Sovereign
by Darth Moya
Summary: Vestara had left Ben and Luke after Nam Chorios and returned to the Lost Tribe. Seven years after... see the story for the rest. Not necessarily containing Ves/Ben pairing. P.S. Abeloth was "destroyed" the same ways hew as in apoccalypse, but no new Son and Daughter. For now.
1. 1: Something I will never tell you

**Quote of the Chapter:**

Love is simple. It has only one rule: Never try to find out the rules. They are too complicated to understand, anyway.

Shalliah

**:_:**

Ben placed himself between her and her escape way, raising his lit lightsaber into defensive position, awaiting her attack.

Vestara's eyes met his, holding his gaze, dark irises filled with urge and plea.

He faced her with stony expression. When none of them moved nor looked away, Ben sighed, letting his look drop. He dropped his lightsaber hand and the blade died out. He took a hundredth of a second to make up his mind, then fixed the hilt to his belt, crossing his hands on his chest, facing her again with face filled with stone.

One corner of Vestara's mouth jerked. "I knew this will happen," she said softly.

Ben made a slight hint of a shrug. "I just hope that someone will finish you on the way out."

She glided toward him. "I doubt that."

When he failed to answer, she continued.

"It's pathetic, Ben. Hoping that if someone will kill me, it won't be you." She was now drawing closer two him, now with barely two meters between them. "Pathetic, but sweet."

"Just vanish before I will change my mind and rip your head off."

She smiled, shaking her head. "You were always a tough guy, Ben. But you can't fool me. I'm a Sith, remember?"

His face didn't even jerk. "Better than you would realize," he said.

"But it was exciting to spend my time with you," she said, bowing her head just slightly in appreciation. "It was a pleasure to fight by your side, Ben Skywalker."

Ben didn't reply to her courtesy. "We both know it wasn't."

"Ah, but that was just a matter of the circumstances. And, after all, I enjoyed it. And that is all that matters to me."

She reached out, felt Ben tighten as he expected her to attack him, and caught his hands, pulling them slightly to the sides, till their hands didn't made a little ring. She tried to lower his defenses and for once stop analyzing her every word.

His brow slightly furrowed as he tried to find out her intentions. She squeezed his hands in reassurance.

"Since that may be our last meeting," she said and tried her voice not to flutter. She was – well, she would be sad if this didn't work. She moved closer to him. "I have a parting gift for you, Ben."

As she spoke, she closed in until their noses almost touched and leant her head a little. Her eyes narrowed as she moved forward to kiss him. She held the kiss for a while, expecting Ben to soften, hug her, or just push his lips against hers. He did nothing except letting her to do it. But she felt his Force aura ripple a bit. When she drew back, just enough to look into his eyes, she didn't find any sign of the ripple in his face, except a soft blush coming to his cheeks. She raised her chin, pouting a bit, giving him a hint of what he should do now.

He failed to react again.

"You are a very dull boy, Ben," Vestara said, disappointed.

"I've heard that before."

Her eyes narrowed, this time with chafe. "That's because-" her face suddenly cleared and she drew more away, as she realized she was falling for his trap. "Ben Skywalker," she said, shaking his head, "I am very disappointed by you. Not that you're just hindering, you are trying to provoke me!"

Ben moved his head. "Do I?"

She saw he was struggling very, very hardly not to give her a smile. He was struggling all the time. But according to what Vestara heard about Jedi Knighting Trials, he was trained to sustain **everything**. And last few weeks made him sustain even a teasing of a Sith teen. She just had to press more hardly to get the last smile from him.

She suddenly got a silly idea. She squeezed his hands, drawing their arms together to Ben's chest, pressing against him.

"So this is a goodbye, Ben," she said theatrically, her eyes fixed on their linked hands. Then she glanced up, eyes big, genuine and tender. "Die, Jedi Skywalker," she whispered and forced the chuckle what tried to escape her lips to ease.

Corner of Ben's mouth jerked to a quick grin, then he squeezed her hands, too. She had felt a relieved wave run through her, followed by a ripple of guilt. The relief was caused by the softness that appeared in his eyes. "Goodbye, Vestara Khai," he replied, adding a frighteningly genuine claim: "I hope your kin to die slowly in a lava pool."

She knew just by the expression in his eyes that it was a pure mocking.

She let his hands go, letting now-stony-again Ben to assume his guarding position again. She stepped back and eyed him from tip to toe, like she tried to keep every freckle on his face in mind.

"Ves?" he sounded when few second passed.

She knew that when she looked up, her face had to be hopeful and soft, but right now she didn't mind.

"Yes, Ben?"

It was clear that hoping he will follow her and join the Sith is a stupidity. But she still hoped. For her heart's sake.

"You'd really better go before my trigger finger becomes itchy."

She nodded. She stepped forward again, laid a hand on his chest and touched him in the Force. It was like a good-bye wave. Then she circled around him and disappeared.

Ben stayed on one place, unmoving, until he knew Vestara is long gone. Then his face twisted to a broad grin and he chuckled.


	2. 2: Lizards, Dads and Love Problems

**The best understanding of a problem comes when you try to vindicate it.**

**Cricket the Dark Lord (T.Y.)**

**:_:**

"Anyone seen Vestara?" Luke asked.

Jaina shook her head. "No."

Ben appeared, ruffled but unharmed.

"I was almost worried about you, Ben," Luke said, sliding his look toward him.

"I already complained about your trust in me, didn't I?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, I think you had already complained about every mistake I did as a father."

Jaina didn't join this conversation; she heard enough of these 'father-and-son quarrels' that she knew they were most funny when let free.

Luke, however, didn't want to continue it. "Had you seen Vestara? You said you've glimpsed her sneaking out."

Ben nodded. "Yeah. I tried to track her."

Luke examined him. "Well, you look quite untuned. What had she done to you? Kissed you?"

Ben's eyes widened. "What?"

Jaina grinned.

Luke caught her eye and cocked a brow. Then he turned his attention back to his son. "Calm down, Ben. I was just mocking…" he spotted a flush on his face. "Oh, she _did _kiss you?"

Ben looked embarrassed. "Well, it wasn't my fault."

Jaina let out a short laughter, then quieted it into very Barabel-like siss.

Luke looked puzzled. "Wasn't your fault? How exactly it wasn't your fault?"

Ben shrugged, a guilty expression on his face. "Well, I didn't ask her to do it. And didn't provoke her to do it."

Another amused sound sounded from Jaina's side. When another sissing followed it, Luke realized they didn't cut the communication with Saba.

"Hello, master Sebatyne," Ben said, hoping that he will manage to change the way their conversation went.

"Hello, young one," Saba replied.

"How's Tesar?"

A silent, upset siss. "He'z okay, Jedi Skywalker. But there'z no time for chitchatz. The Sith girl escaped, right?"

Ben shrugged. "Well, she did. I met her in front of the dock bay."

"And she knocked you down, if I understand it?" Jaina said.

"Well, she caught me by surprise…"

Jaina's brow rose. "So she kissed you and you were so shocked you let her escape?"

"No!" Ben defended himself. "I fought her and well, I forgot the Sith play hard. She shoved me into wall and ran for it before I recovered."

Luke gave him a narrow-eyed, suspicious look. He pretty much doubted that Ben – especially Ben, with his experiences with Sith – would forget that fights with them are rarely fair.

"If the Sith ezcaped, what doez it mean to uz, Master Skywalker?" Saba asked.

Luke shook his head. "That a girl with lots of handy information is heading to our enemies."

"At least she isn't allied with Abeloth," Ben said, trying to cast some light on the situation.


	3. 3: The Indelible

**Guilt is a mighty weapon against those who feel it. Use it wisely.**

**Tanya (T.Y. … :*)**

**:_:**

_**Seven years after the "destruction" of Abeloth, above Gwallish…**_

A woman, still young, but apparently seasoned, sat in the captain's chair of a frigate.

Her hair, long and brown, was tied up into a practical bun, offering a perfect view on her pretty face. High-cheeked and clear-faced, she had beautifully curved lips with a little scar in the corner of her mouth, which caused the impression that she was still smiling. She had dark, oval eyes, deep and sensible. She wore dark garments, with cloak and golden-trimmed collar.

Next to her stood a Keshiri, apparently an adolescent one. She was not much tall, but she was lean and graceful in her motions. She was considerably strong in the Force, though not much experienced in hand-to-hand fight. She had a nice, chubby-cheeked face, innocent indigo eyes and long hair worn in a braid falling almost to her hips.

The vessel dropped from the hyperspace. In the forward viewport, a huge ship appeared. It was pearl-grey and apparently of Mon Calamarian design.

A sensor officer raised his head. "As you expected, my lady, we emerged in attack range from the vessel."

The older woman rolled her eyes. _Of course_ they did.

"Range all our cannons against them," she said.

"Yes, lady."

"And open the hailing channel."

"Got it, lady."

The woman touched a button on her chair's arm.

"This is Lady Vestara Khai of the Sith battle-cruiser _Zaam_ to the Galactic Alliance vessel."

A while of silence, then the communication officer shouted, "They are responding, but we have only the audio."

"Galactic Alliance craft _Phantom Rival _copy. State your business."

Vestara cocked a brow. The voice was faintly familiar. Anyway, wasn't it stupid to ask an armed Sith cruiser about their business with their cannons aimed at them?

"We are intending to conquer the independent world of Gwallish, Alliance vessel. Since Gwallishan duchy isn't a member of GA, that is none of your concern," she said.

"The negotiations between Galactic Alliance and representatives of the duchy about joining the Galactic Alliance are already in motion. Since those negotiations are in process, I have to act as if you invaded Alliance territory. Then, I am afraid, we have to vaporize you if you will not surrender, get out of our territory in two minutes or show that your intentions are purely peaceful."

_No jaw-dropping, Ves, _she told herself. Was the captain so stupid or was he mocking… ah, he _had _to be stupid – just a fool would mock at a Sith Lord when he's facing his whole fleet.

"I assure you, Captain... Anyone, that our intentions are _not _peaceful, we are _not _going to move even a _centimeter _away and we _won't_ surrender."

"I'm really sorry to hear that, Ves," the captain said.

_Ves?_ What was, by the dark side, going on?

"I don't remember giving you permission to use my first name, speak nothing of using a nickname while addressing me, captain."

"Intercepting a holo-transmission, lady Khai."

Vestara leant forward and winked at the officer. "Put it through."

Let's have a look at this…

Vestara stared wide-eyed at the nearly meter high image of two men. Both were dressed in Jedi robes. The shorter one was a member of species Vestara wasn't familiar with. He was covered in brown fur, with too-little dark eyes and a particularly ugly face with strange nose and protruding jaw. But he wasn't the one Vestara was staring at. Because she knew the man next to him. She spent quite a time with him on one ship.

He was of average height, with strong but athletic stature, jolly eyes and wavy hair. His face was bore a slight smile, the one mostly used when one met someone he once knew, and found quite nice. Not to old sort-of-enemy. And she could recognize those eyes and the handsome jaw of his anytime.

It was Ben Skywalker, apparently older-looking and apparently with more experiences. Well, when one survives two wars, betrayal of his own kindred and Abeloth, well, he becomes a seasoned man.

"Ben," she said, letting a little of her shock escape to her voice and thanking gods that her jaw remained at its place.

His smile broadened a bit, more politely than genuinely. "Vestara. Well, it isn't nice to meet you again, but I think you understand."

His voice was other than it was seven years before, but maybe it was just the comm system tricking her. It sounded lower, more mature. Ben's eyes – which, as Vestara remembered maybe too well, were icy blue – turned to her Keshiri fellow.

"Last time we met," he said and his voice suddenly had a soft charming undertone, "You didn't have such a beautiful associate."

A flicker of jealousness crossed her mind and she suppressed a curse. She was long over Ben Skywalker.

"This is my apprentice," she said, waving toward the Keshiri. "Gavi Fasha."

Ben dipped his head. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Ben Skywalker, a Jedi Knight. And this is Jedi Wandaq."

Fasha cocked her brow. "It's an interesting meeting indeed, Jedi Skywalker," she said. "I've heard a lot about you – and your father."

Ben flashed a quick glance to Vestara and grinned. "Well, if you spoke to Ves, you probably heard just the worst about me."

Fasha's brow didn't drop. "Such as?"

"Well, some false stories about my feeding customs, or her complaining about me singing in a shower so loud she heard me in the cockpit, explaining how stupid I sound when I speak Rodese… you know, just this kind of crap. I assure you that none of it is true. Well, except that shower-singing. Can't help it, y'know? I just love the song "Ramoan Rock". One time it nearly drove me mad. I simply kept singing it in my head."

Vestara watched with continuous frustration as her apprentice almost smiled.

"I've never heard the song," she said.

Ben smiled. "Do you want me to sing it to you?" he asked mischievously.

Vestara never expected Ben to be the one to fall for the breath-taking beauty her apprentice wielded, but she was sure he is trying to impress her. And that just wasn't like Ben.

"Never want to hear you sing again, Ben Skywalker," she said.

Ben glanced toward her with something resembling disdain. Then he looked again at Fasha. "Your master is quite snappish, right?"

Fasha's eyes dropped. She didn't dare to insult or to complain of her master when she was right beside her. And that was right.

"Come on, if she will get angry, I promise I will board your ship and save you."

"That's ridiculous, Jedi Skywalker," Fasha said.

Ben shrugged. "Well, it is the Jedi way. I didn't come up with it. My dad did."

When Ben turned his face to the side when he spoke about Luke, Vestara caught glimpse of something. It was a scar, reaching from his ear to jaw.

"What happened to you?" she asked curiously.

He turned to her so quickly the sensor had difficulties catching it and the holo leapt. "What?"

"The scar. You didn't have it last time we met; I'm sure about that."

He stroked it slightly. "This one? It's from Korriban. A parting gift from tu'katas."

One of her eyebrows rose. "Korriban?" she didn't add the other question that came into her mind: What the hell were you, Mr. Super-Jedi, doing on a Sith world?

He nodded. "Yeah, we came there searching for Abeloth. Barely escaped with our lives, honestly. Jaina has a better one, but I doubt she will show it to you."

Vestara knew of the Jedi hunt on Abeloth. They were hunting her all over the galaxy, while she was safe and sound on Coruscant. "I trust that."

He rolled up his right sleeve, revealing a long scar ranging from his elbow to his wrist. "This one," he said. "is from Dromund Kaas."

She swallowed. She knew about the trap on Kaas, too.

Ben studied it almost impassively, but she knew he was going to stab her. Not physically, but mentally. He was trying to invoke guilt in her?

"It was made by parang," he continued. "Gavar Khai's parang."

Well, that one hurt. Her eyes angrily narrowed. "Whom you killed."

He looked into her eyes, impassive. "Yes."

There was nothing more to say, and Vestara was lost in thoughts. Thoughts that hurt.

She herself faced Gavar. She hoped that she can join him, return to the Tribe, to her family. But he had already joined Abeloth. He attacked her, obviously determined to eliminate her, kill her. She hardly managed to flee the battle. She wasn't able to strike the final blow, to do what was necessary when it concerned her own father. Ben was. He was able to do what had to be done, no matter what the circumstances were. Unlike her. And that's why he always won.

But she was determined that if she had to do the same decision again, now and here, she would do it. Slay her own father. Because it had to be done.

She shuddered.

Ben was watching her all the time. When he realized her attention is fully on him again, he touched the neck of his tunic. "Want to see the scar from Upezkar?" he asked, but it was obvious he knew that his acts had the expected effect. When he became so cold?

"No thanks," she replied, wondering if he intended to show her every scar whose creation she could prevent. Then she realized. He wanted to distract her. Distract or… delay.

She noticed that he was waiting for her to elaborate. Instead of doing the expected, she folded her arms.

"When will your reinforcements arrive?" she asked sourly.

He didn't even wince, just shrugged, tucking his left sleeve, showing a scarred wrist – the scars, she knew, were from Abeloth. She was there during the final fight, though she and Ben haven't spoke there, nor fought each other. But she saw as Abeloth tried to squeeze his hand out. He mimed looking at his watch.

"Every minute now," he said when the sleeve was back down and Vestara pushed her memories of Abeloth's presumed destruction away. "Yours?"

_No lip-biting_, she told herself. She just had to delude him. Deceive till the end of your life.

She cocked her brow. "What makes you think they aren't there already, hiding somewhere?"

He shrugged again. If she shocked him, he covered it pretty well. "Well, my sensors, the Force and mainly your obvious doubt. You are not sure if you can beat us and our reinforcements, if I take it well. And that's quite amusing, giving that you have a whole Sith flotilla and we have only one ship."

"It's a cruiser. And it can be crawling with your Jedi," Fasha said.

Ben glanced at her. "Yeah. And we are so great that we can hide a cruiser packed with Jedi in the Force. Besides, what would a Jedi-packed cruiser do _there_? If your master forgot something in your training, it was cunning." He turned his attention to Vestara. "Care to explain it to her?"

Vestara was now watching the _Phantom Rival_ in the viewport. "That wouldn't make sense. If he had a perfect trap on Sith, he would try to lure us into his ship, not trying to hold us."

Ben nodded like a pleased master. "Very well, Vestara."

She snorted.

"So, Ves, have you already made it out? Am I bluffing, or not?"

She set her teeth. "There's a considerable chance that you are," she said, "And a considerable chance that despite these, I will be able to vaporize your pitiful grin along with the _Phantom Rival_."

"You forgot the chance that I will pull some Force trick on you and vape your whole flotilla even without reinforcements."

The ugly being, what didn't pay any attention to them before added, "And don't forget the chance that we will not need the Force for it, Skywalker."

Ben nodded. "Right, Wan, I almost forgot."

Wandaq poke into Ben's shoulder and both glanced back at something she couldn't see. Ben nodded.

"Just give me while, would you?" he asked.

The ugly creature made smacking noise with his tongue. "Skywalker, I'm getting bored with hearing this female snapping. Can't you just tell her you want to marry her or something that would close her mouth?"

Fasha grinned.

"It's okay," Vestara said. "I am done with that chitchat, anyway. Goodbye, Skywalker."

Fasha got it quickly and turned back, shouting the order everyone was expecting to get.

"Open fire!"

A melodic Keshiri voice said, "Yes, sir."

Vestara saw Ben as he raised his hand, gesturing toward _Zaam_. "With pleasure," he said.

Vestara grinned. If he was genuine, he was on a good way to become a Sith.


	4. 4: Never split up

**First law of horror films: Never split up.**

**Notorious saying**

**:_:**

The boarding went well. Maybe too well.

Vestara, flanked by Sith boarding party composed of ten Sabers and Fasha, led the way toward the bridge. There was no resistance. The cruiser was calm and silent.

"This smells like a trap," Fasha said.

Vestara nodded. "This _is_ a trap."

"What should we do, Lady Khai?" One of the Sabers asked.

"We will continue our approach. They had to hide the crew somewhere."

"On the bridge," Fasha said.

Vestara closed her eyes and reached out. "Yes. On the bridge."

"But the Jedi isn't there," Fasha pointed out.

"I think he's just hiding his presence," Vestara said.

"Or he's preparing to make a sneak attack," a Saber suggested.

Vestara glanced at him. In a way, this one looked a bit like Ben. He had red hair and stubborn expression, but his eyes were as dark as black holes. "Even if he somehow succeeded in launching a surprise attack, Saber Diin," she said, soft but threatening, "Do you think he, even if he had this ugly Jedi as a backup, would stand against a whole Sith ambush party?"

Despite the fact that Vestara was a lot younger than him, Diin dipped his head. She was, after all, one of the youngest Sith Masters the Lost Tribe had.

"No, lady Khai."

She sneered.

"Who are you calling ugly, you Sith harlot?"

Her head whipped around, searching for a source of the insult.

She found him, just rounding a corner behind them.

It was the ugly alien Jedi. His lightsaber was in his hand, but not ignited. Typical Jedi arrogance.

She stabbed him with a gaze. "What?"

"I asked you, you filthy Sith schutta, who are you calling ugly?"

This was a Jedi? He certainly had a rich wordage.

He kept walking to them. The trio of Sabers nearest to him raised their lightsabers.

"Where is the other Jedi?" Vestara asked, trying to keep an eye on the corridor in front of her in case Ben came and they tried to encircle them.

"Skywalker?" the Jedi asked. "No idea. Maybe he's out, courting some nice officer."

"This is supposed to be the famous Jedi humor?" Fasha asked.

"Of course," the Jedi – Wandaq, she recalled – said. "It's famous because it's not funny."

"Ah," Fasha said.

Vestara was becoming more and more nervous with every step Wandaq made.

He smirked. "Are you feared, Sith?"

"I am bored," she snapped. "Let's make this quick. Attack!"

Three of the Sith leapt into attack.

Wandaq didn't ignite his lightsaber.

"Holy Sith," he muttered and made a back-flip.

Vestara frowned as she tried to make the best decision quickly. "Five of you, follow him!" she shouted then. "The rest of us will continue to the bridge! Saber Tannis, you're in charge!"

The fair-haired human woman addressed, Ina Tannis, bowed quickly. "Yes, Lady Khai."

"Should I go…" Fasha started.

Vestara shook her head. "No. I need you there. I think we will have to split up again."

"Yes, Master."

Vestara quickened her pace to a light run as she led her remaining six men through countless corridors, through countless turbolifts, through countless places perfect for an ambush, still proceeding toward the bridge.


	5. 5: The right way

**Everyone wise knows – the right way is always the way leading you farther from your enemy.**

**Cricket the Dark Lord (T.Y.)**

**:_:**

"Are you really sure we are heading the right way?"

Vestara scowled at her apprentice. "Yes, I am, apprentice Fasha."

Keshiri girl bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Master."

"We'll talk about it later," she said, hitting another set of controls.

The door slid up, revealing a round chamber.

There was no other doorway here, just a round table in its middle and seats positioned along the wall.

"Dead end," she called at the rest of her group.

Then the table spoke up.

"Ves."

Okay. Either she was becoming crazy because of those kriffing mazy corridors, or the table was a comm table.

She made a vague humming sound.

"Fine. So I found you."

She frowned. "Ben Skywalker?"

"No, your dead father," he said impatiently.

That was rude. Was this really him?

"What do you want, Jedi? Are you going to try to persuade me into leaving?"

"I know very well that speaking doesn't work in your case, Khai."

Oh, so now she wasn't Ves, but Khai. Better every moment.

"So what do you want, Skywalker?"

"You hate me because I killed your father."

"And you hate me because I betrayed you."

A sigh. "Jedi do not hate, Khai."

"But you do. You're good at it."

"That's not the point. You want to settle scores. I want to offer you a chance to do it."

"You want to lure me into a trap."

"No."

"Ah, so you just want to stall? Stalling won't help, Skywalker."

He started to sound annoyed. "I am not stalling, Khai. I'm not a Sith, remember? I'm not a backstabber."

"What about your Jedi friend trying to lure us away from the bridge?"

"What?" he sounded startled. "You met Wandaq? I told him to stay with the crew on…"

He bit away the rest.

"On the bridge?" she asked sweetly. "Oh, it looks like he abandoned his post. Typical Jedi."

There was nothing but a silence from the comm unit.

"Still there, Skywalker?" she asked.

"Yes," Ben answered, suddenly not so confident. "Yes, I'm there. And I am waiting for you. If you change your mind…"

"Where?" she asked.

There was a hint of smile in his voice. "Where you always wanted to have me."

She raised a brow. "In morgue?"

"In bedroom."

She saw her apprentice grin in her peripheral view.

"Oh."

"I'm waiting, Khai. Think about it. Skywalker out."

The comm unit fell silent again.

Vestara ignored the smirking teenage girl – she would be smirking, too if she heard someone say this to her old master – and drew her comlink.

"Saber Tannis," she snapped.

"Lady Khai," Tannis spoke up, panting. "We are following the enemy. He… I think he's trying to lead us somewhere. We are headed somewhere up."

"Forget him," she said. "Catch up with us. We need all our men for the assault on the bridge."

"Yes…" Thannis suddenly stopped, letting the sentence fade away to nothing.

"What happened?"

"He led us to the bridge."

"What?"

"I am just looking at a big label BRIGDE, Lady Khai."

She blinked. If this was a ruse, she didn't get it.

"Don't go in. Wait for us to join you. Watch your back. There's at least one Jedi on the loose."

"Yes, Lady Khai."

"Khai out."

She looked up just to see Fasha looking at her, waiting for orders.

"Are you going to go for Skywalker, Master Khai?" she asked.

Vestara considered it. If she went for him and found him, she could delay him long enough for her men to capture the bridge. Maybe even capture him. But if she didn't, she would let her men alone…

They can make it.

"Yes, I am. I'll try to prevent him from joining the defense of the bridge. You go with them. I'll make it alone."

Fasha bowed quickly. "Yes, master."

Suddenly, there was a sound from her comlink.

"Lady Khai, this is_ Zaam_. GA reinforcements have just arrived. We're engaging them."

"Okay. What about the Phantom Rival?"

"Joins the battle. Still fully operational or just seem to be. But they deploy no starfighters."

"Any launching escape pods?"

"Not one, Lady Khai."

"Is there a lot of GA vessels?"

"No, my lady. Just few smaller cruisers."

"Very well, Saber Aty. Keep on."

"Yes, lady Khai. _Zaam_ out."

She extinguished her lightsaber. It seemed odd, but she was no longer awaiting a sudden ambush.

She closed her eyes, trying to locate Ben.

And she felt him, his presence distant but clearly distinct.

He felt a lot like his father. Shining like a living candle in the dark of steel and waste mechanics.

He had to become stronger since the last time they met each other.

She turned to the direction where she felt him and walked this way.

"Master Khai?"

She turned to her apprentice. "Yes, Fasha?"

The Keshiri smiled. "Good luck."

"Thank you, Fasha," she said, shaking her head a bit. "But, do you think I will need it?"


	6. 6: Riven

**I never understood the two in one thing. More exactly: How can I possibly know which is the Thing One and which is Thing Two?**

**Cricket the Dark Lord (I really have to write you as a co-writer, bro.)**

**:_:**

She worried about Fasha.

She knew she should not, but there was something unpleasantly Jedi in her.

Well, there was time when she herself almost came to like Jedi, their foolish way of being forgiving and merciful.

There was a time when she fell for a Jedi.

She shook her head.

Shake it off.

You are going to kill him.

Now and for ever.

For the Tribe.

For the galaxy.

Galaxy would be a better place without Skywalkers meddling in everyone's affairs.

Did Fasha like Ben?

And did Ben genuinely like Fasha?

Or it was all a ruse?

And what happened to Ben? What made him so bitter?

And, most seriously: Why, by the Sith grace, I care?

She rounded the last corner, coming out in a short corridor with door along the walls and another one in its very end.

She followed the radiating sensation of a strong Force-user to one of them.

Then, like if someone blew out the candle, but slower, Ben drew into himself, seemingly vanishing from the Force.

Was this a game or what?

She tapped the controls and white door of the room slid to the side.

Ben was there.

Wait, no – there were two Bens.

Ben was sitting on the bed, playing with hilt of his lightsaber. The same Ben she saw in the hologram – wavy auburn hair, sky-blue eyes, handsome jaw crossed by a scar.

And at his side, a little aback, stood Ben. The same hair, same eyes, same black garments. His lightsaber was hung on his belt.

The sitting one raised his eyes to her. "Hi, Ves," he said with a little smile.

The standing one gave her a court nod. "Hello, Khai."

Then they spoke simultaneously. "We've been waiting for you."

She tried not to show it, but, kriff, she was stunned, taken about.

"Hello, Ben," she said, shifting her eyes from Ben One – the sitting – to Ben Two – standing.

"It's nice to see you again," Ben One said.

"But not really, as you certainly understand," Ben Two added.

They both grinned.

"Yes, I do. It's not a pleasure to meet you again, too."

Ben Two shifted to a fighting position. "So," he said. "Are we going to fight?"

Ben One skillfully caught her eye. "Or talk?"

"What is this?" she asked instead of answering. "Is this some kind of illusion? Or do you have a secret twin?"

"It is a Fallanassi illusion," they both answered. "The other one is not real."

"Oh," her eyes flickered between the two men quicker than Keshiri nuveri – jumper – on the run. "I see."

"You do," Ben One nodded, smiling.

Ben two smirked. "But can you trust what you see?"

She staggered mentally. "I can trust the Force," she retorted.

Ben One spread his hands. "Try it, Ves."

Ben Two just kept on his smirk. "See if the dark side will serve you."

She closed her eyes, but just half way, not willing to lose her sight when two Bens were near.

She reached out to the two shapes in front of her.

She felt nothing.

She smacked. "I thought you're not trickish, Skywalker," she said reprovingly.

"I said I'm not a backstabber," Ben Two objected.

"And I don't intent to stab you in your back, Ves," Ben One added.

She raised her brows.

Ben Two "I want to fight fair."

"If it came to it," Ban One added.

Vestara set her jaw. "Oh, so you are using a Good Ben and Bad Ben trick on me?"

Ben One smiled. "Maybe."

"Does it work?"

She finally stepped into the room, drawing her lightsaber and igniting it. "Not at all," she said.

Ben One and Ben Two looked at each other.

"Too bad," Ben One said, nodding somberly.

Ben Two flashed her a grin. "Too bad for you, of course."

"I dealt with one Ben," she said, steeling herself for expected attack, "I will deal with two."

Ben Two glanced at Ben One, igniting his lightsaber. "I told you that Sith are terribly overconfident."

Ben One shook his head. "Poor girl."

She sprang into attack.

She actually still wasn't sure which Ben was real, but that didn't matter. She was sure she can kill them both, if it was necessary.

She spun around, bringing her lightsaber in sizzling crimson circle that would, eventually, slash the head of Ben One, but Ben Two was in position in time to catch her blade with his, sapphire one.

Ben One threw himself back on the bed, rolling sideways. He landed on his feet and ignited his lightsaber.

A blue blade, identical to the one that started to push Vestara's blade dangerously close to her face, crackled to life.

She ducked and lashed out with one hand, sending Ben Two flying into the wall. She quickly straightened and parried Ben One's angled slash at her legs. She spun around again and struck with a clenched fist, hitting him square into cheekbone.

He staggered, but didn't yield. He swung his elbow into her stomach and turned to strike at her while she was still recovering from the hit.

But Ben Two was already in motion, swinging his blade down at her back.

She dived to the floor, rolling away.

Somehow she managed to get on her feet in time to prevent Ben Two from cutting her in half.

While she held his blade head-up, Ben One made a quick attempt of doing the same.

She pushed Ben Two's blade away and sent both attackers tumbling to the floor.

Ben One fell, but Two somehow managed to stay on his feet.

She caught his next blow holding her saber one-handed, a Force-lightning erupting from the other one.

Ben Two started to tremble. He yielded his grip of his weapon and it tumbled to the floor.

Short while of delighting victory blinded Vestara enough to miss out that Ben One was already standing up.

But she didn't miss the sizzle sounding too close to her head.

She ducked, letting the lightning fade away.

She snatched Ben Two's lightsaber and spotted with a victorious grin as he sagged down on his knees.

She turned on her back, lashing up on Ben One's stomach with both weapons.

He jumped back.

That gave her time to stand up. She did it and almost immediately lunged at him, swinging one lightsaber high and one low.

He made another cautious leap backward.

"I need a shoto," she heard him muttering.

She spun again and made a down-up slash. He caught it low. Vestara started to push his lightsaber up, trying to twist it out of his grasp.

But he was stronger. He kept her both sabers down while he brought his foot up, kicking her wrist from below.

It was a good-aimed kick, and it knocked both sabers out of her grasp.

Then a wave of air hit her from the side, sending her tumbling to the floor. An invisible hand snatched her and threw her on the nearest wall, pinning her there.

"Ves, Ves, Ves," Ben One said, keeping his hand up as he held her against the wall. He grumbled sorely as he touched his quickly swelling cheek. "Still trusting yourself, don't you?"

She watched fallen Ben Two as he slowly faded away and she realized that Ben One is panting heavily.

"And do you still have blind faith in everyone, Ben?" she asked.

"No," she shook his head following her look to the fading Ben Two. "You cured me of this." He stepped to her warily. "By the way, did you know I was the real one?"

"Sure," she said, smirking. "You had to be the good one. The second one just wasn't you."

She was lying, but, damn, she was a Sith, wasn't she?

"We were both I," Ben said mysteriously.

"You're like your father, Ben Skywalker."

Ben grinned bitterly. "No, Ves," he said, letting her slide lower on the wall, nearer to him. "I am much better."

And then he robbed her of all her possessions.


	7. 7: Ironbound

**Still waters run deep.**

**Well-known saying**

**:_:**

She woke up.

Her head was lightly spinning, her hands terribly aching…

She hated waking up like that.

Then she opened her eyes.

And she saw Ben.

She closed them again.

She hated, hated waking up like that.

"Good morning."

She offered him a nondescript growl.

"Does it hurt?"

She decided to ignore him.

"You didn't bite off your tongue when you hit the wall, did you?"

_Yes. Silent ignoration, a weapon that used to win wars._

Ben sighed. "You're an exemplary woman. You got mad and you're sulky."

_I am not sulking!_

"That's childish, Vestara, you know?"

_I know. But I'm not going to talk, Jedi boy._

_Jedi man._

She just couldn't get used to it.

"And don't pretend to sleep. I know you're awake."

_I just don't want to see your ugly face, Skywalker._

But he wasn't ugly. At least he didn't seem ugly to Vestara. At all.

Where the times when seducing him came into question were?

She suppressed a sigh.

"Okay," he said. She heard a sound of something being unstuck, then she heard – and felt – Ben walking up to her. "Don't startle."

_Me? Not anymore._

Something terribly cold slipped under the neck of her garments. Her eyes snapped open and she almost yelled.

_You stupid, dirty-tricking, sickening Jedi scum!_

She felt the ice cubes melting on her chest and the icy water dropping on her belly.

Ben was smirking.

_I'm going to neuter you with a spoon, you… you… low grade swashbuckler! You childish scoundrel!_

As if he heard her, he offered her a very much Han Solo-ish lopsided grin what make her wonder if Mara Jade was completely devoted to her husband.

"Are you going to talk to me now?" Ben asked.

_No way, you epicene by-blow!_

He sighed. "Vestara. You are just making it harder."

_I'm trying, Skywalker. I'm trying._

He looked around. "I have plenty of things here." He looked back at her. "And they are all much worse than ice."

_I thought you're a Jedi…_

But, after all, if he was slipping to the dark side…

_Just keep on doing this, Ben. See you on the other side of the barricade._

He looked pensive. "Do you know what Embrace of Pain is?"

She frowned. _No, but I will soon know, right?_

He sighed again. "I can just assure you that it's kriffing, kriffing painful."

_Who taught you to speak like that? The ugly Jedi Wandaq?_

Then he flashed her a quick, dark, cruel smile that wasn't Ben Skywalker.

"And that I know well how to be worse than it."

_Where did you get that darkness, Ben? And why didn't you show me all those years ago? I could exploit it, and then… I could turn you. We wouldn't have to be separated anymore._

She missed him. Did he miss her?

"Instruments of torture are bad," Ben continued with a strange glare in his eyes. "But words can hurt much more. And worse."

_Who taught you to use words for torture?_

She ached for answers.

Was this her torture?

She unwittingly squeezed her lower lip between her teeth.

Mistake.

Ben visibly tensed.

"Are you thirsty?" he asked suddenly, turning his back on her.

_When you mention it, terribly._

He drew a small white bottle from a big bag on the table in front of her. He unscrewed it and took a quaff. Then he motioned it to her. "Want some?"

_No._

When she didn't answer, he shrugged. "Your loss."

He laid it next to the bag.

She could use the Force to float it to her.

But not when he was there.

_Don't you want to pee, Skywalker?_

She considered using some kind of Force-influence, but she knew he would detect it.

Ben leant against the table. "Vestara," he began. He had the endlessly patient, calm voice of a disappointed father. "There are two ways we can solve this. I need information. And you, if I'm not terribly mistaken – want to stay alive and unharmed."

_Brilliant deduction, Ben._

"There is the nice, clean way of solving this. I will tell something to you, you will tell something to me. That had already worked once, right? And everyone is happy."

_You mean the last time? Yeah, that worked. For me, of course._

"And there is the nasty, dirty way. The one that contains durasteel things and injections. And lots and lots of questions."

He tapped the table edge.

She felt the annoyance and impatience growing in him.

Wait, he felt bad?

_I am the one supposed to suffer here!_

Ben, seemingly randomwise, raised a shock baton from the table.

"Ves, don't make me do this."

_I will._

He wasn't looking at her now. "Please."

_No. Hit me._

He stiffened. "Vestara, talk."

_Is that an order? What do you think about yourself?_

He squared his shoulders and looked back up at her. "So you chose the hard way."

_I did. I really want to see how you Jedi torment. What are you going to do? Tickle me?_

Without another speech, he unattached something from his backpack. When he raised it on his palm, Vestara recognized a little disk-shaped thing just a little smaller than Ben's palm.

It was a little droid, obviously. It had plenty of tiny legs and a single, pale green visual sensor adorned its thin bodypart.

Ben took few steps to her and squatted. He placed his palm with the droid to her knee.

Oh, I forgot to say in which humiliating pose Vestara just was.

She was pinned to the wall by some kind of shackles that somehow managed to enlace her wrists and ankles perfectly. She was outstretched to a big Y, with her ankles bind by one big shackle.

She wondered if she could use the Force to free herself. But she, honestly, had no idea how those shackles worked.

"H-7," Ben said to the droid.

Droid clinked in acknowledge.

"Code Aurek."

The light of droids sensor turned from its pale green to malevolent crimson and he tweeted.

The droid climbed onto her trouser-leg and started to scamper up. He found a way to get under her tunic and now he was scurrying over her body.

It was pretty unpleasant.

Ben stood up and clasped his hands behind his back. "I'm asking you last time, Vestara Khai. Will you cooperate?"

_No. I'm a Sith. I have my honor._

He nodded sorrowfully.

She knew he just played it.

"Okay. As you wish. Aitch seven, code Cre-"

The droid was hovering on her cheek.

Her mind was unusually bright, ice-cold and calculating.

_Hey, now it's about my face. I like my face. Don't want to lose it._

But she didn't want to talk, either.

Will stalling help?

She doubted. Ben was beginning to be impatient.

_When did he become so fidgety?_

_Wait – was this him?_

She made up her mind in split of a second.

"If this is another illusion, Skywalker, I'm going to kill you for this."

He stopped in middle of a word. "The prison or the droid?" he asked then.

"You."

He shook his head. "I'm not an illusion."

"And are you sure about that?"

"I learnt not to be sure about anything."

"Did I help?"

"Maybe a bit."

"Glad to be of help."

"You can be again."

She shook her head. The droid on her face gripped her skin more tightly to keep himself on place. "I'm not telling you anything."

"I thought so. I just hoped "

"That someone will finish me on the way out? Not this time."

He smiled. "I just hoped that Aitch-seven will not be used for torture."

"Why?"

"It was a gift. Gifts are not to be misused."

"Gift from your girlfriend?"

Ben raised a brow. "It's from Allana. I don't have a girlfriend."

"How so? Did you still hope I will change my mind and return to you?"

He grimaced. "No. But girls don't like disfigured men."

Now she raised her brows. "You are disfigured?"

He nodded. "All those fight left some scars even bacta cannot deal with. Not that I wanted to erase them. I want to keep them. As a reminder."

"That it's not wise to underestimate Abeloth?"

He frowned. "I have never underestimated her. I just want to remember."

_It were Sith who underestimated her. And Tahv paid. My mother paid. Father paid._

He studied her. "Bad memories?"

She looked away. "You make me sick," she snapped.

"And you make me sad, Ves. It's a pity that your talent is wasted on Sith."

"It's a pity that man with your potential is so blind to power."

Ben backed away and sat on the table. "I'm not blind to power," he objected. "I see it. I just don't want it. At least I don't want to gain it that way."

"Why?"

"I saw a great man – maybe the most selfless man in the galaxy – who decided to sacrifice his life for the welfare of others. And he decided to do anything to ensure that they will live in peace and serenity. And he had the power to do it. He accepted even greater power, all in the name of good. But his power corrupted him. He chose a painful way to walk, and became dependent on this power to keep him up when the pain was too much. He couldn't give up on it. He fell… and he died." He sighed. "That's why I try to avoid great power."

"Jacen Solo."

He nodded. His eyes were watery. "Jacen."

"Masters said that he was a weakling. Tiny, whining man."

"They didn't know him."

"Is there anyone who did?"

Ben blinked, staring at a blue-tiled floor. "I thought I do."

She became silent. She knew how it feels like. She had lost her father the same way. She thought she knew him, but the man she knew was gone. And there was no way for her to change it.

"I'm sorry about him."

Ben chuckled, but it was a bitter chuckle indicating he wasn't amused at all. "You aren't."

"I am. I know how it feels to lose someone."

He nodded. "I know. But I'm sure you don't care about how I feel."

"Why do you say that?"

"No one ever really cared."

_Oh, so you are filtrating your old afflictions. Why now?_

"Ben, are you really so dull or are you playing me?"

Ben's answer was blank and distant. "Why should I play you? It doesn't matter if I make you speak; it doesn't matter if I force you to sympathize with me. It doesn't matter if you loved me."

She started to waver. She didn't want to see him breaking. "Life's hard, Skywalker. Don't cry here."

He glanced at her. "Why shouldn't I? I have a plenty reasons to cry. I don't cry often, you know? Almost never."

"Did you cry when I left?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"I was angry and felt betrayed. Not sad. And I was confused."

"Confused?"

"You killed a tsil to save me and Dad. And then you just left us."

"I had to."

"No. You could stay."

"And become a Jedi? Not even if I wanted. There had to come a time when we would be forced to separate. That way, it was not as painful as it would be later."

He nodded. "I understand."

Her brows shot up. "You do?"

"Yes." He walked up to her and laid the edge of his palm to her stomach. "Aitch-seven, code Dorn."

H-7 let go of her face and started running down her clothes to Ben's hand.

Ben pocketed the little droid. "H-7, code Zerek. Switch off."

Droid tweeted from inside his trousers.

Ben looked up at Vestara. "Don't play tricks on my friends, okay? Be so nice."

He turned, tossed his backpack over his shoulder and went for the door.

_Ending so soon?_

"Ben," she said.

He stopped, but didn't look back. "Yes?"

"Stay. Please."

He shook his head. "No. I am of no use here."

"Please, stay. And tell me about Jacen."

"There's nothing I can tell you."

"I want to know it."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"You're interested in him."

She considered it. Then nodded. "Yes."

"You're not the first woman."

"I think you're the best one to tell me about him."

Ben's shoulders slumped. "I said there's nothing to tell. Goodbye, Vestara. Maybe we'll meet again."

"You doubt it."

"No. I'll try to avoid it."

"Ah. Goodbye then, Ben Skywalker."

He straightened up again and slapped the controls. Doors slid to the side.

Ben stopped in the doorway.

He said nothing, but Vestara saw his core jump.

Then he left.

Silvery door slid shut.

She relaxed.

_Fine. Time to plan my escape._

_Anything not to think about this conversation._

All the time she spent with Skywalkers she tried to make Ben open with her, to make him share information. And she was failing all the time.

And now, when she didn't want him to speak, he talked too much.

She wondered if it was simply his nature.

She tried to jerk her left hand out of the shackle. It squeezed her hand even more.

_Ouch._

She attempted to use the Force to push it off her wrist.

Mild electro shock ran though her arms, leaving them numb and itching.

_Ouch._

They certainly knew how to keep Sith in check.

She used a while in which her arms were becoming sensitive again to dream of locking up Ben in this sort of chains.

He would be at her mercy.

She sneered.

_Just wait, Skywalker._

_Just wait._


	8. 8: We who are vain

**A friend is hard to define. In my case, I only have a definition of a non-friend: Someone who is of no use to me.**

**Tanya Asteron**

**:_:**

She didn't know when exactly she fell asleep.

Just that when she woke up, she felt even worse than before.

Her tongue was swollen and numb with thirst, all her muscles were aching and convulsing.

She squinted against the bright light of the glow rods attached to the ceiling above her.

She was surprised Ben didn't send any of his friends to pay her a visit, at least not the same day as he did.

She could distinct day and night just because the lights in her cell went off for some time.

Now they were on.

_Good morning, Ves._

She blinked furiously to adjust her eyes.

She wasn't alone.

There was a humanoid shape in front of her, a dark blur contrasting with the light blur if its surroundings.

She stared on the floor below her until she could finally recognize little notches in off-white flooring.

Then she looked up.

It wasn't Ben; this one was too tall and lacked Ben's sinewy build.

Its garments were loose and dark, hiding every hint of its gender or species.

But it looked quite humanoid.

Its head was raised. Most of it was skillfully masked under its robes, but its eyes were still visible. Dark brown, soft, but confident.

Her eyes?

No; they didn't have the perfect almond shape her had.

Pair of gloved hands drew a cylindrical container from the depths of a black cloak.

It stood up and walked few long paces to her.

"Drink."

It was a male; that was without question.

He had an unobtrusive Coruscanti accent.

So not a Sith.

Or a very well trained one.

He held up the container to her lips.

Little lines appeared in corner of his eyes indicating a little smile. "I really suggest you should drink."

The voice was almost exactly like his eyes. Soft, pleasant, but with a stone of self-confidence in its core.

She drank.

The water was cool and fresh, which made the drinking almost intoxicating experience.

She suddenly felt embarrassed that she showed that to him.

Her lips reluctantly left the container's mouth.

He set it aside on the table behind him.

"Who are you?" she asked.

He shrugged. "A friend."

_If you were a friend, I would not be handcuffed by now, don't you think?_

"Ah." She felt her hair sticking to her face, matted with sweat. She didn't want to look like that.

A weak voice sounded inside her head, the venomous voice that always tried to make her think. The voice of a Sith in her.

_Why? Because of his pretty eyes?_

Fine. Let's take it easy. This may be a game. But Vestara was a good player herself.

"Ben's trying to pull another trick?" she asked the man.

"Ben?" he sounded genuinely surprised. "He's not a tricky one. He's pretty much outright. Maybe for his own harm."

"Not when he's with me."

"Then you must be a bad influence."

Vestara realized that she didn't feel him in the Force. He had to be hiding. Or he was just one of Ben's illusions.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"I've heard about you, Vestara Khai. And I think we two can cooperate."

She raised her brow. "Cooperate on what?"

He shrugged again. "I have certain plans with this galaxy," he said and crossed his arms. "I can use your help."

"Oh." She considered it. If he wasn't an illusion, this may prove a very interesting conversation. If he was… he let her drink and he can be a good debater. Why was she even deciding? "First off, what would be in this for me?"

His eyes connected with hers. There was the smile in them again. "Depends on," he said softly. "What do you want, lady Khai?"

That was a question. What does she want?

_We want power, _her Sith part yelled.

_We want Ben. We want his love, _the silly, girlish part of her whined.

And the basic, animalistic part of her said: _We want our revenge – for anything anyone did to us._

But what did her logic part want?

_All we want is to get out of those chains, get our lightsaber and drink some more. And then have a nap._

And she wanted very badly to know whether this was an illusion or not. And to know who he was. And stop herself from feeling so helpless in his presence. And a sanisteam.

_Oh boy, what stupid question this was?_

"I want everything."

The answer didn't seem to shake him. "I can't give you that much. There are things I have to keep to myself."

"But I want everything."

He waved his hand. "That's a very simplified answer, lady Khai. It's easy to say that you want everything. Do you want to possess everything? To know everything? To have everything under your control? To have every man you desire? To kill everyone? To destroy everything?" he looked at her, frowning visibly even under his cover. "I've heard you Sith are pragmatic."

"And what do _you_ want?"

His eyes narrowed. "I want peace and order for the galaxy. I want greater good."

Her eyes narrowed, too. "That's a very Jedi statement. Know what? You can shove your greater good…"

He grasped her chin. "Silence. I thought you could be a useful ally, Vestara Khai, but it seems you are as blind as your Masters are."

His grip of her jaw was almost painful. She resisted an urge to spit into his face. "Jedi are the blind ones here. Sith have no…"

"Sith don't see the forest for the trees. At least your Tribe does not. There is more to life than your pitiful struggles with Jedi."

She tried to jerk her jaw out of his hand, but he held her too tightly. "Jedi are not important," she hissed. "They are nothing but an obstruction in our way to galactic dominance."

"So you are going to conquer the galaxy."

"Yes."

"And what then?"

Huh?

"What are you talking about?"

"What are you going to do with the galaxy after it's yours?"

"Aside of wiping the Jedi and all our enemies from its face?"

"Yes."

She considered it. "Bring the eternal darkness to the world? Rule it forevermore?"

"You don't know."

"I'm not in charge of this crusade."

"I can put you in charge. What would you do then?"

She frowned. Their plans seemed to leave out the possibility of winning. What would they do then?

The man seemed disappointed. He let go of her mouth – she let a sigh of relief escape her lips when she moved her jaw back and forth to ease the pain – and shook his head.

"That's a pity, lady Khai," he said darkly. "I thought you are capable of becoming my associate, but it seems you are useful just as a blaster fodder." He patted her cheek. "I don't need pawns. I need queens."

She didn't answer, perplexed and offended. He was dismissive? No one ever treated her with such a disregard!

"I'm powerful, resourceful…"

_Why am I defending myself?_

"I don't need those qualities, lady Khai. I have all this myself. If you don't have anything else you can offer me…" he let the rest fade off.

He neatened his robes and gave her a nod. "It was a pleasure to meet you, lady Khai." He gave her a brief, satirical bow. "And don't bother to tell about my visit to Jedi Skywalker. He will not believe you anyway." He glanced at her arm. "They will think it was just a hallucination caused by your anesthetics."

_They drugged me? Oh, this is getting better every minute._

"Goodbye."

He started to march to the door.

"Before you will leave…" she said.

He turned to her. That was something Ben didn't bother to do.

_Ves, I doubt this is a boy for you. Jedi was a bad idea, but this guy is barvy._

_He's like Abeloth._

She trembled. "I want to know who you are," she said.

He seemed pleased. "Oh, do you?"

_Please, don't be Abeloth._

_Please, don't be Abeloth._

He nodded. "I can tell you, I suppose. Or show you."

He stepped back in front of her and took off the scarf hiding his face.

He was faintly familiar.

Then it struck her.

_Hello, illusory boy._

"Jacen Solo," she said sourly.

Jacen Solo's face – perfect to every line in the matter of likeness – was mostly expressionless. "Colonel Jacen Solo," he corrected her.

She viewed him without a hint of embarrassment. "They say you were handsome," she said.

He gave her the slightest of smiles. "Thank you."

"I didn't say I agree." She glanced into his eyes and found it hard to do it. "Not even that it's a compliment."

"But you do think that, right?" he shook his head. "I'm wasting my time here." He saluted. "Later, lady Khai."

_Sure, illusion, anything you say._

She wanted to answer his salute mockingly, but she realized she was still chained to the wall. So she just gave him a mocking grimace. "Later, Colonel Solo."

_Oh, how I would love to stab my lightsaber into your heart!_

Jacen strode away from the room.

Well, she faced another illusion.

At least she still kept her dignity.

But this scared her to bones.

If it was Abeloth…

She didn't want to think about that.

She tried to relax her muscles again, lolling, trying to stretch her neck muscles with moving of her head.

_Now I'll just wait for Ben to come and taunt me because he thinks I got my lumps._

_Come, Jedi boy._

_Just come._

He didn't. No one did.

Not this day.

At least she still had the water container.


	9. 9: Forgotten but fighting

**A really great manipulator is someone who manipulates the man who tries to manipulate him.**

**Cricket the Dark Lord**

**:_:**

"I'm hungry!"

She kept banging the container into the door, using the Force.

"Hey, is anyone out there?"

Bang, bang, bang.

"Listen up, stinking Alliance scum! I want some food!"

Bang. Bang.

She let the container drop.

"When I'll get out of this disgusting cell, I will pound you all to pieces!"

She relaxed for a while, snuffling and snorting.

Swearing helped. Yelling and shouting, too. Banging things managed to keep a faint impression of having things under her control.

It was like a meditation.

Very Sith meditation indeed.

Her cell's door opened.

"Shut up, Sith scum," someone snarled and closed them again.

She tossed the container at the door.

Then she realized her wrists were in considerable pain.

She was struggling too much; they were closing more tightly every moment.

She wondered if they would squeeze her hands out if she tried enough.

That reminded her of the battle with Abeloth.

That reminded her of Ben.

_He didn't come._

_Scum._

He was approximately as reliable as a Jedi. And that meant he wasn't at all.

"You out there!" she shouted. "I'm bored!"

The voice, to her surprise, answered. "Me too!"

She grinned.

"I need to eat!" she continued.

"And I need you to shut up!"

She started to knock at the door with the container again. And started singing in keshiri.

Was she becoming mad?

Maybe.

But she was enjoying herself.

The song was actually a lullaby, but she managed to shriek it so it sounded like a terrified rancor young yelling for his mommy.

"_Come boy, come to your Mom, I will hug you in my arms, hug you until you will fall asleep, my boy, my prince, my sonny…_"

"This is not Gallactic Alliance Best Vocalist!"

"And this is not a proper cell! This is a death cube!"

"That's the point!"

"_Stars are sleeping stilly, my boy, my prince, my sonny, sun is already down, the moon is rising… Sleep, sleep tightly, until the sun will touch your face…"_

The door opened again.

"Oh, fine," she breathed out, managing a theatrical cough. "I was afraid I will hoarsen."

Her new visitor marched across the small room to the steel table in its middle. "Sorry I kept you waiting."

Vestara eyed the person. "You're a Mandalorian, aren't you?"

Visitor raised his/her head as he/she unpacked his/her set of torturals. "Yes."

"I've studied your culture," she said friendly. "I think you are an interesting people."

She didn't see his/her face under the helmet, but she could imagine the look. "I heard people call us variously – murderers, warriors, dishonorable savages… not much people see us as interesting."

"What can I say?" she said with a smile. "I'm unique."

If the Mandalorian could throw a doubtful look through that T-shaped visor, he/she certainly did.

Vestara waited for mandalorian to react.

He/she ignored her.

When the whole gear was spread on the table, she took off her helmet.

She undoubtedly.

She wasn't the prettiest girl in the galaxy, but she had the hard-faced confidence that made people feel either secure of frightened.

She had dark curly hair cut in the perfect helmet-friendly length and dark brown eyes harder than durasteel.

Mandalorian iron. They were so hard and invulnerable like mandalorian iron.

This woman had to have a though life.

Vestara felt no real sympathy for her. Her own life was more than enough tough.

"I heard that mandalorian women are as tough as men," she said.

Mandalorian woman looked up at her, then donned a pair of crushgaunts she laid on the table before. "That's true," she nodded. "But we can cook."

Vestara wondered if it was a joke.

She didn't care to laugh.

The woman meshed her fingers and rapped the 'gaunts at one another.

Vestara knew what will come.

"We don't know each other," she said carefully, trying to keep on sounding jovial.

"That's right," mandalorian nodded. "That's why it isn't personal."

"I'm Vestara Khai."

"I know."

"Who are you?"

"Right now I am an employee of Senator Wan Norso."

"What's your name?"

"You don't need to know."

"I want to know."

"I am not here to please you."

"Why are you interrogating me when you're working for Norso?"

"Norso's shuttle was aboard the Phantom Rival when you boarded it. He took it personally."

Vestara tried to nod. "Ah."

The woman rounded the table and stood in front of her. "Besides, Jedi Skywalker asked me for help."

_So they are friends enough for her to do him a favor._

"It's nice of you to be of help."

She shrugged. "He's paying."

"I will trade one answer for your name."

It had the intended effect. The woman stopped in motion and then stiffened.

"Do you need my name for some Sith tricks?" she asked then.

"No. I pledge my word."

Her visitor scowled, then nodded. "I take it, for what it's worth. But I want the answer first."

"Go on."

Vestara hoped she will give her the type of question she wanted.

"Where did you get those new ships? I mean those all-new. Like your flagship."

This was partly the type she wanted. But she still could slip this more or less without doing any harm to the Sith cause.

"We bought them," she replied, completely honest.

Mandalorian watched her for a too-long while, then nodded.

"Mirta Gev-Orade."

Vestara gave her a sweetest of smiles. "Hello, Mirta. I am Vestara."

Mirta offered her a scornful look. "Gev for you," she added.

To make this clear – Vestara knew she had either to try to sustain Gev's torture or speak. It was possible she will speak anyway, so she decided to start playing when she had the right position.

If she could, she would stretch her hands now with a pleasured expression.

This way she just twisted her hands to relieve her wrists and let her eyes narrow.

There was a wonderful way to manipulate people.

And she was just about to exploit it.

It would help if Gev was a man, but she was determined to play this on her anyway.

She doubted she would be clever enough to work this one out.

Gev was patting her knuckles.

"I have another bargain for you, Gev."

Gev looked at her. "I heard you are a solid double-crosser, Khai," she said, seemingly off-theme. "I don't like bargaining with double-crossers."

"I am not trying to cheat anyone." _Just Ben. To remove the kriffing grin from his face._

"And I am supposed to believe that?"

"No. You are supposed to consider that."

Gev tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. It looked odd with all this armor she wore. "I'm listening."

"I need you to do me a favor."

"You want food?"

This wasn't a bad idea at all. She took the chance. It was a good idea to start with something innocent before using her to her villainous plans.

She grinned mentally. Villainous plans.

"Yes."

Gev looked doubtful. "That's low even for a Sith."

Vestara did something resembling shrug. She wasn't much able to shrug in her position. "I never liked our folk anyway."

"You can tell us all you know without this show. That would certainly let them have it."

I like show. "What would be in this for me?"

"You could have a better cell."

"With holovid?"

"Maybe."

"Without those stupid shackles?"

"No way."

"No deal then."

Gev shrugged. "Answer me and you'll get your food, _laandur_."

Vestara didn't understand her language, but she doubted that was nice. She nodded. "Ask."

"Who sold them to you?"

"No one from the Alliance, I assure you."

"Who?"

"I want a dessert."

"Deal. Who?"

"Ornians."

"Who's this?"

"More water."

"Deal. Who are Ornians?"

"Inhabitants of the Ornian princedom."

"Where is it?"

"Two portions."

"Deal."

"Unknown Regions."

Gev nodded. "Okay. I'll get you your food."

"Two portions, some dessert – with cream – and more water."

"Okay. But no spoon, no fork, no knife. And the water container is leaving with us."

Vestara nodded. "Deal."

"And forget the cream."

She grinned.

Gev carefully gathered up her kit – no one left anything in her cell so she could not misuse it – and left.

She took even Vestara's favorite toy, the black-and-silver water container.

Vestara would be low-minded, but she trusted she can put her deals with Gev to some use.

Other than getting food and fun.

When her cell's door opened, it wasn't Gev who went in.

It was someone else in mandalorian armor.

This armor was blue and green. Its helmet was apparently scorched, but it was all shiny metal.

"Your_ kai'tome_," Armored said.

"Food?" she guessed.

He didn't answer.

"Where's Gev?" she asked.

Armored set the tray he carried down on the table.

"Feeding prisoners is beneath her dignity, ma'am," he answered.

She liked being called ma'am. "And not beneath yours?"

Armored-one shrugged, tugging at his helmet to take it off. "Gev's the boss. She's Mand'alor's _bu'ad_, after all."

"_Bu'ad_?" Vestara echoed.

"Grandchild," the boy – he had to be boy – said, shaking his head.

He was quite tall, maybe an ell taller than she was, soft-faced and green-eyed. He had blonde hair in a crew cut, more a stubble than proper hair.

"Oh." Vestara smiled at the boy.

His cheeks were slightly freckled and stubby. He glanced at the tray.

"Drink first, please."

He nodded, apparently bored and annoyed with that job. He raised the grey cup and held it to her mouth.

Vestara forgot her humiliating confinement and drank, once more relishing the simple joy of fresh water.

She gulped down the whole cup with one long chain of quick swallows.

Then she let go of the cup and let the Armored Boy lay it on the table, fetching a sigh.

She caught a sight of the content of the pot he was just opening and curled her lip.

"What's this?"

"Trooper rations."

"But what's this?"

"A soup."

"What soup?"

Armored Boy shrugged. "No one knows. No one cares. Better than _gihaal_, trust me."

"_Gihaal_?"

"Dried fish-meal. Smells like Hutt's breath."

"Ah."

He grinned a bit and placed the pot to her lips. Then he slowly started angling it. "Eat fill," he said. "Or _haili cetare, _as my Mama says."

Vestara knew she had no other chance of gaining her strength, so she drank.

The soup was unexpectedly tasty. There was hint of spice in its vegetable taste and now and then pieces of some meat. It smelled and tasted good.

She wondered why GA wasted its funds on good food for troopers.

But happy troopers are good troopers.

She emptied the pot.

"Does your mom cook well?" she asked.

Armored Boy shrugged. "She can cook the best uj cake in the whole sector. But her nerf roast's terrible. Too much spice. My sis is better cooker than Mama. She always says she's really a girl beyond price."

"How old is she?"

"Fifteen. She's here with us. She's guarding Norso's chambers."

Vestara knew that mandalorians were considered adult after thirteen. Her thoughts wandered to Ben, for who it was complete true, according what she heard.

"Why is Norso here?"

Mando boy looked at her. "I'm not going to slip you any information, ma'am."

She faked a dashed face. "I was just trying."

"Yeah. I know." He jerked his head toward the tray. "What do you want now? There is a nerf steak, some pasties and a fruit pie."

If her wrists and ankles weren't bind by shock-shackles, if her body didn't hurt like hell, if she had a fair chance of escaping, she would enjoy these moments.

She sighed, agonizing when she couldn't eat the food normally.

With her own hands.

She sighed again.

"Not hungry?" Armored Boy said, waiting for her answer.

"Give those pasties to me," she said, prostrated.

Armored Boy nodded and took one of the two pasties, letting her have a bite.

She chewed it, ignoring its gorgeous taste, the way the dough correlated with the mincemeat…

This was going to be a long day.

Vestara ate, ignoring the Armored Boy's improving mood.

He was enjoying being superior to her.

He can go to blazes.

Everyone can.

Vestara was sorry for herself.


	10. 10: Crestfallen but never down

**No one should be nice on his enemies. It creates unpleasant misunderstandings.**

**Tanya**

**:_:**

This was so, so abasing.

"I need to use a refresher."

_Here. I said it._

"That's comprehensible," Gev said. "You drank a lot of water."

"Will you allow me to use a refresher?"

"Depends on," Gev answered, crossing her arms.

This reminded Vestara of her illusory visit.

Jacen Solo. _Colonel _Jacen Solo.

If Solo was like the man she spoke to, she was glad he was already dead.

He was exceptionally irritating.

Like Ben.

Well, he was his master, after all.

She shook her head and shifted her attention back to Gev. "Depends on what?"

"If you have any information we might want."

"I have plenty of information. I am already a Sith Lady. I know lot of things."

"Like Kesh's coordinates?"

"Like Kesh's coordinates."

"Are you going to tell them to me?"

"No."

"So say goodbye to your dignity, Lady Khai."

Vestara sighed. "Is there anything else you want to know? Anything?"

"How many worlds do you have already taken control of?"

Vestara considered it. This can help them to get a clearer picture of the size of their armada. Or she can bluff.

"About twenty. I don't count Kesh."

Another very long silence. "You're lying."

How can she possibly know? "I'm not."

"You are. I am sure of it."

"Okay. Twenty five."

Pause. "Lie."

She frowned. "That's not a lie."

"It's as much lie as much as my name's Mirta."

"So you lied to me about your name."

"Number or no refresher."

"Twenty five's true."

Gev stretched her hand. "I can beat the truth out of you, Khai."

"Twenty five."

She received a crushing hit into her stomach. She thought she may wet her pants.

In the middle of gasping, she managed to grind out a weak _eighteen_.

Another smashing stroke, this time into her knee.

Something popped and her leg exploded in pain.

"Lie."

Vestara gasped. "Fifteen."

Mirta paused. Then she nodded. "Good girl."

She swallowed and drew on the Force to reduce the pain.

How could she know when she lied and when not? She was good in hiding lies.

"Can I visit the refresher now?"

Gev shrugged. "I'll consult it with my bosses."

Vestara grimaced. "Thank you."

And Gev left.

Vestara enjoyed a while of silent self-pity, but prevented tears of pain from escaping her eyes.

She knew they saw her on security cams.

This imprisonment weakened her.

She would certainly be able of enduring this better if they treated her better.

But that was the point.

Her cell door opened.

And Ben's alien Jedi comrade marched in.

"Hello, Sith schutta," he said friendly. "Jedi Skywalker decided to let you use a refresher – under Jedi supervision."

She raised her brows. "Viva," she said surly.

"Sometimes I think he's too soft-hearted."

That didn't need an answer. Everyone knew it.

Wandaq went to her. "Don't look," he said.

What?

He grinned and reached over to a panel on the wall. He shielded it with his own body and tapped a sequence of buttons.

She felt the buttons moving in the Force, obtaining an approximate idea of the code.

7-2-5-Besh-Aurek-Dorn-6-9-8

Simple.

Lights overhead changed their color from icy white to warm golden, transforming the cell into something all but cozy.

Wandaq muttered something to himself, dragging an injection from his belt pouch.

Vestara, almost automatically, used the Force to jerk it out of his hand.

He held it.

Something in his chest rumbled deeply. "What do you think you're doing, smooka?"

"I thought about anesthetizing you and stealing your lightsaber," she replied calmly.

He gave her a compassionate look. He indicated his robes and the empty clip on his belt. "Do you see any lightsaber?"

"No."

"That's because no one can enter one of the special cells with a weapon."

"Oh. That's clever." She watched him with perfectly hidden panic as he raised the injection and started to apply it to her neck, tiptoeing. "Who's idea?"

"Skywalker's. Has some personal experiences with imprisonment of Force-users."

The pin touched her skin. "When he was imprisoning Force-users?"

"He wasn't," Wandaq answered, stabbing the injection into her vein and depressing the pump. "He was imprisoned."

A flash of pain – which was nothing against the ache and throbbing she kept feeling now – shot through her neck.

She bit down on her lip, shaking her head to ease the pain.

"That's right," Wandaq said, obviously enjoying it. "Move and help the toxin spread through your body."

"Toxin?" she spat. "You are killing me?"

"As much as I loved to, no."

She saw her sight grow black on edges. "So what's happening?"

"It's just a precaution. Even with a Jedi escort, you could still try something unwise."

"What's this going to cause?" Her sight was darker and darker every while.

"Temporary blindness, maybe a slight queasiness and dizziness. Balance problems. Maybe I'd have to carry you on the way back. It may cause your muscles to relax."

"That means I will not be able to control them."

"Yes. I'm not sure I have the right dose."

"Great." She sighed as her sight vanished completely. She could have panicked, but the Force gave her a fair overview of her surroundings. "I think we should go as soon as we can."

"Agreed, Sith smooka."

He tapped in another sequence but Vestara, feeling light-headed and beginning to sense slackness coming to her limbs, didn't try to find it out.

Shackles loosened and she dropped the few centimeters onto the floor, almost stumbling to it when her legs didn't do her bidding, letting Wandaq to catch her with the Force.

He caught her arm from behind – she had no idea when he got there – and started to lead her out of the cell.

The toxin had a specific effect they most probably didn't think of.

Her aching and spasming muscles were starting to slacken, pain giving way to doughy laxation.

_Oof. _

_I love drugs._

Wandaq kept retaining her, under-propping and shoving her forward at the same time.

They crossed a doorway.

Wandaq led her into a refresher cabin and closed the door.

He was in the cabin with her.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, her outrage working its way through the veil of anesthetics.

"Keeping an eye on you," Wandaq said. "Orders."

"I'm going to…" she bit of the end.

"Yeah, do your human necessities. Go on."

"I have to get off my pants," she said.

"Yeah. I'm not going to help, if you mean that."

"I meant you should go away."

"No way. Skywalker insisted I have to stay with you all the time. Even if it meant staying in the cabin with you."

"He thinks I'm so dangerous or he simply wants me embarrassed?"

"He was actually very caring, given you're a Sith." Vestara didn't miss the way he almost spat out the word.

"Caring?"

"Yeah. He insisted on Jedi escort and while there are only male Jedi onboard, he chose the one that isn't interested in… anatomy of human women."

"Sure," Vestara said, giving it up. "How nice of him."


	11. 11: Miss you

**There are ways of being kind people are afraid to use.**

**Nial**

**:_:**

Days passed on.

Ben was sitting on a crate in the hangar, awaiting the promised Jedi support he and Wandaq requested few days ago.

He thought that words "Sith captives" will interest the Council enough to send someone immediately.

It apparently didn't.

He was grooming his blaster, which, years ago, belonged to his mother, Mara Jade Skywalker.

One of the Mandalorians walked up to him, emanating shyness unusual for them.

"Hello, _al'verde_," she said.

"Hello," he answered. "But I'm not your commander."

"I know," she said. "How am I supposed to call you then?"

"You can call me Ben," he proposed, then smiled at her reluctance. "Or Jedi Skywalker like everyone else."

"Okay," she nodded. "_Jetii _Skywalker."

He moved over on the crate to create some free place on it, then motioned the mandalorian to sit.

"_Vor'e_," she said and removed her helmet.

Ben had already spent quite a time with Norso's Mandalorian security, enough for him to catch up on some words in mando'a. Like thanks, what the girl just said.

She was not older than him, with almost disturbing lovely face with eyes indicating a cool-headed temper, with a touch of a cockiness deeply depressed behind all the battle-hardened gut and coolness.

She sat down next to him, her back touching his as they both faced opposite hangar walls.

She drew out her own weapon, heavy repeating blaster which looked almost ridiculous in her small hands.

Ben sneaked a glance at the girl. "Your parents are Mandalorians?" he asked.

"Mom's not," she said. "Why?"

He cast a glance on her. "You don't look like mando."

She shrugged. "I'm small compared to the others, but I am as much mando as they."

Ben could sense she was touched by his statement. "I didn't mean it like that," he said. "I meant that the other girls have this mannish stature and so…" he found himself lost in his own speech. "Damn, I meant that you're pretty."

There was a hint of grin on her face. She turned to him. Her fair hair was tressed into something resembling a mass of thick, wooly braids and tied back with a leather cord with a plenty of colorful beads adorning it. "_Vor'e_, _Jetii_ Skywalker," she said. "I value the try."

Ben smiled. "Can I make any reparations for it?"

She shrugged. "A _buy'ce gal_ will do."

He suddenly felt a familiar presence brushing his, joyful, eager, but still controlled.

"Then we have a deal," he said, standing up. "But it will have to wait a while. Our backup's here."

She gathered up her helmet and stood up, too, flashing him a brief smile when she put it back on. "I'll let the boss know."

"Thanks."

"It's my work."

She marched away and left Ben behind, expectant, satisfied, happy and just a little embarrassed.

Through the transparent atmospheric field, he saw a silvery-green flash when a shuttle emerged from the hyperspace.

Illuminated by Gwallish's white sun, Gwa, the shuttle looked like a ghost ship, shiny and appearing nearly translucent.

It swam through the dotted starfield with a grace that left no question about its pilot's abilities.

His comlink made multiple tweeting tones.

Not shifting his eyes from the approaching craft, he drew it from his pocket and snapped it open.

"Skywalker. If you want to tell me that they're coming…"

"That's Wandaq. Sith woman blacked out. Too much of toxin."

Ben grimaced. "We should have asked Master Cilghal after all."

"Why?"

Ben's grimace faded. "Wandaq…"

"I know. Just kidding. I'm in the hangar in a minute. Keep them in. I want to fall out with someone."

He shook his head as the comlink went dead.

He commed the bridge about the approaching vessel and waited for Wandaq to come.

As always, his minute extended to five and he missed the arrival.

The shuttle slipped into the hangar and dropped on its struts. It was sage-green and svelte, certainly not the battered military transport he expected.

Its boarding ramp descended.

A head appeared in the hatch and Ben waved at it.

Head smiled broadly and the body slipped into his view, too, leaving him to wonder when his friend had grown up that much.

Her regal-looking face, lined with golden-red hair was visibly older, her grey eyes cheerful but sad in their essence, slender body dressed in grey jumpsuit that enlaced her curves just enough to be elegant much more womanlike than he remembered it.

She hovered at the ramp's top, looking perfectly controlled again, only her eyes revealing that she would like to jump down the ramp and throw herself into his arms.

Allana Djo Solo, Hapan Chume'da, descended the ramp slowly and loftily, ending her tread in front of him.

Her mouth expanded into another smile as she nodded to him.

"Jedi Skywalker," she said.

Ben bowed to her. "Chume'da."

When the court stuff was finished, Allana finally stepped forward and crushed him in a hug Ben wouldn't believe she was capable of. He returned it with more care, but equal warmth.

The last five years – after Ben's father had died – he and Allana grew close. Allana – at Tenel Ka's request – was trained by Jedi in the academy while Ben, mourning his father and lacking action, was there, too, helping Masters with training.

Ben was actually closest to Allana in their family as to age, but bit more experienced, so he assumed a post of Allana's mentor, seconding her master.

Allana drew back. "You look old, Ben."

Since they still didn't work out how exactly is their relation called, they decided just to call themselves with first names.

"And you look pretty much grown-up, Allana," he said, his voice betraying his mild sadness he felt about it.

She nodded, poking his shoulder. "Come on, old man. I'm still not a retiree."

He shrugged. "Neither am I."

He was actually twenty four. That didn't mean retiree in Jedi society. Not at all.

"Where's your Master?" he asked.

"On my way," Jaina Solo said, stepping down the ramp.

She was still Ben's hot-headed cousin who used to crack jokes as often as bones, no matter how much she looked like someone who can easily be Ben's mother.

She was clad in Master's robes, her lightsaber dangling on her hip.

She was promoted in the height of the Abeloth crisis, after Kenth Hamner's death.

Some Masters were not sure about if in the beginning, some still seeing her more as a soldier than a Jedi, but Jaina proved herself worthy of the privilege.

But it was still pretty nasty of the Council to assign Allana to her as her first apprentice, given her parentage.

"Hi, Jaina."

She gave him a tight smile and hugged him quickly. She was actually a bit shorter than him, which made it harder for him to see her as someone highly over-ranking him.

"Hi, Ben. How're you?"

Ben shrugged. "Better than the last time."

"Better than being shot down by space pirates?" Allana asked.

"It was crossfire," Ben defended himself. "And yes, much better."

"That's nice to know," Jaina said, "Since your ship's crawling with Sith hostages."

"They are just four."

"Four is too much when you speak about Sith," Jaina retorted and casted an apologetic glance at Allana, who seemed untouched by the retort.

"Good thing is we have proper cells," Ben said.

Jaina wanted to say something, but was cut off by a signaling sound of Ben's comlink.

"Excuse me," he said and drew it from his pocket.

"Suit yourself," Jaina said, motioning Allana to follow her back up into the shuttle.

Comlink's outer display read DIPLOMAT BAWAN. Ben sighed and snapped it open.

"Skywa…" he began to speak.

"Jedi Skywalker," Bawan's grumpy voice sounded, interrupting him. "I heard the Jedi we demanded are already here."

"That's true, Diplomat Baw…"

Bawan interrupted him again, leaving him to wonder if this was the reason of his diplomatic successfulness. "Very well. I want to meet them in the conference room. Right now."

"As you wish, Dip…"

"Immediately, Jedi Skywalker."

"Yessir," Ben said quickly, trying to complete at least one sentence.

The comlink went dead.

Ben returned it into his pocket, walking up to the bottom of the ramp. "Jaina?" he called.

"Just a moment!" Allana called in response.

Ben sensed a movement behind him and turned just in time to see Wandaq emerging from behind a matte black StealthX.

"Long live the Jedi Council," he said caustically. "It seems they finally decided to shake a leg and get to help us."

Ben shrugged. "They could as well leave us there unsupported."

"I doubt that, Skywalker," the Snivvian Jedi said as he paced toward him. "Council is always jumpy when they hear the word Sith. Bad is that jumpy doesn't mean quick. At least not to them." He frowned at the shuttle. "You spoke with the Old man?"

Ben nodded. "Yeah. He wants to have us in the confroom immediately," he raised his voice and turned toward the hatch, "Which means we should hurry up!"

"We hear you, Ben!" Allana shouted again and appeared in the hatch with a huge box trailing her, floating. Her mass of red hair was tied up into a ponytail which swung from side to side as she stumbled down the ramp.

"What's this?" Wandaq asked.

"New starfighter equipment," Jaina explained and followed her niece down the ramp. She floated her box in shoulder height, balancing it above her palm. "It's still not tested. Incom wanted some Jedi to field-test it."

"In case something gone wrong," Ben guessed.

"By wrong you mean wrong as in explosion?" Wandaq asked, eyeing the silvery boxes.

"I think you're right," Ben said, casting a glance at his cousin. "I suppose that's why Jaina wants to try it."

"You really don't think high of me, Ben," Jaina said and laid the box at the lower part of the ramp, right next to Allana's.

Allana suppressed a Solo-like grin. "Yeah, don't treat my master like that, Jedi Skywalker."

Ben actually grinned. "Forgive me, Master Solo," he said melodramatically and offered them both a low bow. "I beg your deepest pardon, as well as young Chume'da's."

Wandaq grimaced. "Stop fooling around, Skywalker," he said and turned to Jaina. "Master Solo, Diplomat Bawan wishes to speak with you about those prisoners."

Jaina nodded. "Let's go, then. Technical things can wait."

"I can stay here with Ben and mount them," Allana offered.

Jaina shook her head and followed Wandaq to the turbolifts. "No. Come with me."

Allana nodded. "Yes, Aunt Jaina."


	12. 12: Breakpoint

**People can be broken from the weirdest reasons. And in the weirdest ways.**

**Tanya**

**:_:**

"Master Solo."

Jaina slipped into the room, followed by her all-Jedi entourage.

Conference room on the _Phantom Rival_ was an octagonal room – very unusual layout – with round corners. It was painted minty-green, with a huge round illuminating pod in the center of the ceiling, which filled the whole room with cold white light, lighting up the white stuffed furniture and glass-boarded table in the middle into such degree that they felt like they just entered a star's core.

In a massive egg-shaped chair resembling throne sat a refined human man with indistinctly brown hair dressed in expensive business suit. At his side stood a petite Rodian aide clad in white robes that resembled Leia Solo's old dress in which she first met her future husband, Han, Jaina's father.

"Senator Norso," Ben said as the door slid shut behind him. "Where's Diplomat Bawan?"

Wan Norso stood up, rounding the table with his aide clinging to his side. "He's in the side chamber," he said, revealing his heavy Onderoni accent. "Duke Onnye is highly alarmed because of the attack."

Ben frowned. "Does that mean that he's not going to join the Alliance?"

"Oh, no," Norso said, smiling. "He thinks that the Sith attack was arranged by the Omniempire. He wants to speed up our negotiations and join the Alliance as fast as he can, so we can provide him with defense against the Omniempire's flotilla."

"Omniempire?" Jaina echoed.

"It's a small government containing about six or seven planets in this sector," Norso explained. "Gwallishan duchy set up an insurrection and broke away. Now they are feared of the implications of their actions."

"Well, considering its size, it's a bit megalomaniac, this Omniempire," Allana said.

Norso's eyes flashed form Jaina to her and he immediately made a bow. "Chume'da Allana Djo, right?"

"Allana Djo_ Solo_, but very right indeed, Senator."

Ben experience a little glimpse, distinctly seeing Leia Organa Solo in Allana's upright posture and gentle speaking, but then he came to realize that Allana was as much her mother as she was her grandma. He also saw glimpses of Jacen Solo in her, in her eyes becoming more and more eyes of an adventurer as she continued her journeys over the galaxy at Jaina's side, and in her steely resolve to do what was right.

Norso cracked a smile that gashed his face like a cutting wound. "It's a great pleasure to meet you, Chume'da. Why have you chosen to visit us?"

"She's there with me," Jaina said, sounding a bit dismissive. "As a Jedi support."

Senator took the hint and didn't poke into it. He turned around and returned into his "throne". "Take your seats," he said, waving his hand around. "I'm sure the meeting will start every minute." He looked at his chrono. "Head of my security will be here in no time, and I am certain that Diplomat Bawan is not willing to drag on his hearing at the Duke."

"Okay, then," Jaina said, motioning her comrades to follow her as she assumed the chair opposite Norso, not that much big but similarly shaped.

Allana took the seat at her right, Ben on her left and Wandaq sat next to him.

It was a way to show Norso that Jedi weren't explicitly on his side, though they were now pursuing the same goal.

Door behind Jaina opened, causing the Jedi Master to flinch as two armored figures marched in, rounded the table without noticing the swelling numbers of Jedi onboard and came to halt in Norso's plain view.

Norso waved his hand with a smile. "Very well. Take a seat, commander Gev. The meeting will start every minute."

Gev nodded and sat down on Norso's left. The other mandalorian sat next to her.

"May I introduce you Jedi Master Jaina Solo…" Norso began.

"We know each other, Senator," Jaina said, nodding at Gev.

Gev replied with a slight tilt of her head.

"Oh," Norso looked slightly confused. "That's great." He retained his discretion and pointed at Allana. "And this is her…"

"Apprentice," Jaina advised.

"Apprentice, Chume'da Allana Djo Solo."

Gev sounded disinterested. "Pleased to meet you, Chume'da Djo."

"The same to you, ma'am," Allana said.

"I'm Mirta Gev," She introduced herself and jerked her head toward her comrade. "And this is Aik Skirata, my second-in-command."

Aik raised a hand and offered the young Jedi a slightly ironic wave.

Jaina leant to Ben. "What's Gev doing here?" she asked, whispering.

"Norso hired her and her mandos to protect him and Diplomat Bawan on this mission," Ben answered.

"I noticed the Bes'uliiks in the hangar," Jaina nodded. "But why a whole army of mandos?"

Ben shrugged. "Maybe Onnye isn't the only one afraid of the Omniempire here," he suggested.

Before Jaina could say more, arced white door on the far side of the room opened, revealing a somber Togorian.

He was dressed in luxurious dark-blue and black attire which was in tune with his dark fur, crossed with dark-grey stripes.

Norso turned his chair to face the man. "Diplomat Bawan," he said with a broad smile. "Great."

Togorian diplomat didn't twitch a muscle. "Duke Onnye is restless," he said. "He wants to hurry up the "bureaucracy stuff", as he calls it."

Norso nodded, growing serious. "But we cannot make him a member of the GA overnight. We still didn't solve the issue about their navy."

"He knows it. But the Advisory Council will not give up on their only chance of self-defense. Duke is sure about this."

Ben leant forward and joined the conversation. "He still does not trust us?"

Bawan turned to him. "He does, but the Council doesn't think highly of the Alliance. They doubt they will rush to help a border planet."

"If we didn't want to help them stay independent on the Omniempire, why would we try so much to make them join us?"

Norso glanced at him. "Son, if the Council was as smart as you are…"

"The Council is sympathizing with the Omniempire," Wandaq said, frowning. "Duke insists that there is someone putting people up to rebel. If the Council is doing its best to subvert the Duke…"

"You can't just bring an accusation like this against someone, boy," Bawan said. "There is no proof that the Council is behind this."

"Gwallish is isolated right now. No one landed on the planet for months. It's someone inside. And the Council has the best conditions for a coup."

Norso raised his brow. "Oh, you are suggesting there is a coup attempt going on?"

Wandaq shrugged. "I don't see another reason for the attempt to disrupt Duke's power."

"What if the people are stirring because they don't want to be a duchy?" Ben suggested. "Maybe they strain after democracy."

"Gwallishan duchy is a constitutional monarchy," Norso said, shaking his head. "The Advisory Council is voted by the public. They already have the democracy."

"But Duke has the final word, right?" Ben insisted. "I think they want a direct democracy."

Norso considered the idea for a while, then noticed the way Jaina and Gev were looking around the room, apparently disinterested, as well as Allana's discreet interest in the discussion.

"That's certainly a theory that deserves further investigation, Jedi Skywalker," he said with a little nod of approval, "But we are here to discuss something else."

"Yes," Bawan nodded, taking a seat next to the Senator. "We are here to talk about the prisoners."

Jaina straightened up. "Yes."

Norso beckoned to Gev. "I've asked Commander Gev to assemble a quick report."

"I have already briefed the Council on the matter," Ben said.

Jaina nodded. "We know the basis, yes, but go on."

Gev obeyed and plucked her datapad into the table. Little holo unit in the middle of the table lit up with a spherical image of Gwallish with a small Mon Calamari cruiser in its orbit.

"More than week ago, GA cruiser Phantom Rival was attacked by an unknown flotilla."

There was some activity on the periphery of the image, and a handful of ships, mostly smaller cruisers, which were soon followed with a massive ship of the size of a star destroyer, with jut-studded egg-shaped hull.

"The Phantom Rival contacted the flagship, the _Zaam_…"

The egg-shaped ship blinked red.

"…and after the hostility of approaching ships was confirmed, we sent word to the Gwallishan Navy."

A cluster of odd-looking vessels, accompanied by some almost-ancient crafts like something fairly resembling _Venator_-class star destroyer, a ship which was used during the late years of the Old Republic, came out of the Gwallish's atmosphere.

"During the battle, the Phantom Rival was boarded by a unit of enemy soldiers. Jedi Wandaq led the group into a trap we set up on the bridge…"

The image changed to a recording of a fiery fight, where a mass of armored mandalorians, headed by Gev, kept the lightsaber-wielding enemies under constant fire, while Wandaq, a green-and-brown swirl of light and cloth, was striking at them with his lightsaber.

"… where we managed to eliminate most of the strike team. Three of them were unconscious. We captured them and brought them into the prison block for questioning. Jedi Skywalker in the meantime took the flotilla's commanding officer, Vestara Khai, prisoner."

A high-quality image of Vestara's slender figure with a mass of long hair billowing around her head as she looked about, apparently shouting, pivoting with a feline grace.

Jaina gazed at Ben for a moment. He faced her gaze without a flinch.

Gev continued to speak, ignoring Jaina's bewildered look. "On Diplomat Bawan's request, our prisoners were put into custody and questioned."

"Were they tortured?" Allana asked.

Jaina's look finally broke away from Ben's as she turned her head a bit to glance at her niece, quickly looking back at Gev.

Gev offered them a little shrug. "We used intimidation."

"I cannot imagine Mandalorian avoiding violence," Wandaq said, stabbing Gev with a stare of his dark eyes.

"We tried to reduce the violence to acceptable minimum," Norso said nervously.

Ben frowned. "I haven't approved on that."

"You approved using harder methods during the interrogation of the Sith prisoners," Gev retorted. Her face was controlled, but sharp.

"I haven't approved on torture. Just the menacing."

"You yourself…"

"It was just a threat. I wasn't serious about it."

"You asked us to avoid violence," the other Mandalorian, Skirata, said. He took off his blue helmet, revealing a young but gnarled face. "We tried to avoid violence. They gave us no other choice. Few of them even attacked my…" he paused and casted an apologetic look on Gev, who ignored him, "…our men."

"So you cracked their legs for it? Just as retribution?"

Jaina scowled not at Skirata, but at Ben. "Ben, they are Sith."

"And I'm a Jedi," Ben snapped.

"We all know we need the information they can provide us with," Bawan interposed. "According to the information we got from the young Keshiri, the Sith are preparing for invasion. If we knew more about them before it happens, we could be more efficient in…"

Ben's eyes widened in bewilderment. "You tortured a teenager?"

"She is a Sith apprentice," Skirata spat.

"She is a kid. When did we Jedi start to torture kids?" he casted a glance at Jaina. "I think Jacen was the first one in this trend."

"Jedi Skywalker, you're jittery," Norso said softly. "Calm down."

Ben sprang to his feet. "I'm not going to stand by while you all approve of torturing adolescents," he snapped and burst away.

"Ben!" Allana called at him and started to rise to run after him. Jaina laid a firm hand on her arm and pulled her back.

"Where are you going, Skywalker?" Bawan shouted after the young man. "Release those prisoners?"

Ben didn't answer.

"What's wrong with the boy?" Norso asked with fatherly concern.

"He's a bit hot-blooded," Jaina said shortly. "And he's right."

Norso and Bawan both frowned and looked at each other.

Allana used the while to lean to her master, whispering. "I think he's out of sorts, aunt Jaina."

Jaina frowned. "I know what you mean."

"Do you think it's really about the Sith kid?"

"I don't know. But something is wrong. I feel it."


	13. 13: The man I want to be

**Some people fall into depression to get over some bad situations. Some people build ice walls around them. And some just merge with the crowd, trying to drown their anguish in commune.**

**Tanya**

**:_: **

Ben sat on a table in the corner of the mess, sipping from a huge mug of caf.

"Hello, Jedi kid."

His eyes slowly rose from the blackish liquid in his mug to a friendly face of Twi'lek GA officer.

Ben's brow lashed up as he didn't recognize the man speaking. "Hello?"

Twi'lek grinned and sipped his own caf. "I've heard some rumors about you."

He was in his middle age, according to the lines in his face and his weathered but optimistic expression.

"Oh," Ben's eyes dropped down again. "Did you?"

Twi'lek reached out, pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat on it. "I've heard you fought on the GA side during the Second Civil War."

"I did in the beginning. Then I joined the Jedi side."

Twi'lek grimaced. "Ah, yes. The Jedi side."

"Where did you fought?" Ben asked without a genuine interest.

"I was with the Confederacy. I was born on Fondor."

"But you are now back in the GA, right?"

"Yes. I liked Niathal's approach. Straight and military."

Ben smoothened his hair blankly. "What about Caedus?"

"Solo?" Twi'lek snorted. "I never thought of him as a real element of the war. For me, he was just a very ambitious troublemaker. Until Kashyyyk."

Ben flinched. "Kashyyyk was bad."

"Yes, Kashyyyk was bad."

"What then?"

"I thought of Solo as of a really resolute troublemaker. He had to go."

"Did you rejoin the Confederacy? Or helped the Hapans?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I was a GA soldier. I followed the GA. I was just discontented. That had nothing to do with my work."

Ben nodded. "I understand. Work first."

Twi'lek smiled at him. "It's hard to believe a kid like you understands this. You'll do a good commader, son."

Ben sighed. "Maybe. Once I'll make up with… everything. I'm stirring up myself." He set the mug aside and slipped from the table he turned to the Twi'lek and shook hands with him. "I didn't introduce myself. Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker."

Twi'lek nodded. "I thought so. Captain Zaabda. Klan Zaabda."

"It was nice to meet you, Captain."

"Same to you, Jedi Skywalker."

"Just… Ben, okay?"

"Okay, Ben."

"See you later, Captain."

Ben was out of the mess in a flash, striding toward his cabin.

"This is no Academy, Skywalker," he muttered to himself. "Now, this is a battlefield."

He found himself unwittingly smoothing down his hair again and grinned.

"And whose fault is this?"


	14. 14: Teamwork

**There are lots of kids of teamwork. Teamwork is even when you simply stand next to someone who suffers. You go through it together. That's the teamwork.**

**Nial**

**:_:**

Allana, who spent the free time Jaina permitted her searching for Ben, who, for some reasons unknown to anyone, shut down in the Force, sat down on the bottom of her and Jaina's shuttle.

Playing with her braid, she drew out her datapad and checked on the messages she sent him.

She expected no answer as every other time she checked it, but now, in the very bottom of the screen, there was a short, laconic message.

_I'm okay. If you want to speak, meet me in the hangar. _Fate of Carida_, five minutes. Ben._

She checked the time the message was sent.

Four minutes to her credit.

She stood up and jogged along a nearby-standing Bes'uliik, which was attended by a hulky mandalorian, whose armor was taken off, except his forearm plates.

"Hello, sir," she said with her best innocent smile of a non-Jedi teen.

Mandalorian turned to her with a rough smile, cleaning up his hands with a rag. "_Su'cuy_, kid. What do you need?"

"I have arranged a meeting with a friend," she said, "at the _Fate of Carida_, and I don't exactly know which ship it is."

"Oh, of course. But_ Fate_ is not in the service hangar. It's in the command hangar. That's one deck below us, the command deck. _Fate_'s a big Corellian shuttle. Can't miss it. It has a big paint on its side."

Allana nodded and offered the man a joky salute. "Thank you, sir."

"Glad to be of help, missy."

She ran away from the man, pulling out her datapad again. She sent a quick I'm-on-my-way message to Ben, then a missing-found one to Jaina and jumped into a service turbolift millisecond before the sky-blue painted door closed.

She shared the cabin with two brawny Mandalorians, one very nervous human officer and a pair of Rodian technicians.

The ride wasn't too long, but thanks to clicking of Mandalorian's knuckles, endless tapping sound of officer's vibrating leg and silent bubble-like sound of Rodian conversation, the ride was utterly unnerving.

Using the Force to calm herself, Allana tried to reach Ben in it once more, finding nothing resembling him in the whole ship.

She practically fell out of the lift as the pair of Rodian technicians rushed out.

Stepping aside politely and keeping the salvo of hapan curses strictly in her mind, she let them pass and then promptly fell in behind them, following them into the command hangar, to which, as she believed, they were heading.

She was right and the emerald-green pair led her to a rectangular doorway big enough to let three Hutts arranged to one line go through without even rubbing against the frame.

Both technicians inserted their indenticards into the slot in the door controls and the jet-black gate split up to let them pass.

Allana considered eluding the security measures by holding the gate opened for a little longer, but she discarded the idea. It was not necessary, though it was way too simple to evade it.

For people with Sith warriors onboard, they were almost ridiculously careless.

She used her own identicard to open the door – she had Jedi pass-check, which allowed her to go almost everywhere on the ship with impunity – and slipped into the hangar.

The Mandalorian man was right; the_ Fate of Carida couldn't _be overlooked.

It was huge, honey-colored with a big black painting on the starboard side of the hull – GA roundel ringed with the ship's name.

Its ramp was lowered and a pair of brown-uniformed men was chatting on its bottom.

Ben was nowhere to be seen.

She continued forward to the men.

With a polite cough, she came to halt hardly a footstep from them. "Uh, gentlemen,"

Both men – both Human – turned to her.

The younger man – hardly twenty-one – smiled at her. "Hello, missy. How can I serve you?"

"I'm looking for Jedi Skywalker," she said. "Haven't you…"

"I'm right here, Allana."

She turned like a weather-clock, suddenly facing Ben's chest. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay," he said, stepping back.

Allana noticed he had changed his clothes, now wearing a dark-gray jacket and black trousers instead of his Jedi garments. With his short red hair a bit messy and calculative eyes, he was a perfect male version of his mother.

"Is the_ Fate_ repaired, Onowan?" he asked the older man.

The man nodded, ruffling his shoulder-length gray-streaked mane as he glanced at the chintzy-looking ship. "Yes, sir, but it will take some time to make it flyable again."

Ben nodded. "Very well. Keep it up."

"Will do, sir."

Ben beckoned at Allana and led her away into a storeroom.

There he lent against a rack while Allana sat down on a crate.

"What did you wanted?" he asked, studying her.

She suddenly felt exposed and embarrassed, but she didn't let it in her face. "I need to know if you're okay."

He spread his hands. "I apparently am."

"I meant if you_ feel_ okay. Inside."

He managed not to sound annoyed when he answered, "I do."

She nodded. "Fine. So why are you hiding in the Force?"

He frowned, then shrugged. "Reflex."

"It's troubling. When you can't feel one in the Force…"

He nodded. "I know."

He closed his eyes and his presence slowly flickered in, shiny and brilliant.

"Thank you."

He smiled tightly. "Ready to serve, Chume'da."

She frowned. "I don't like when you call me like that. It sounds so… abusive when you say it."

The smile vanished. "I'm sorry, Allana."

She grinned half-heartedly. "The galaxy's okay."

"Can I ask you for something?"

"Sure."

"I need you to tell me what happened at the meeting when I left."

She didn't show her disappointment. They haven't seen each other for almost a year, and when they had a while, he was still tackling his work. But that was okay. He was a Jedi Knight. "Will the short version do?"

Ben glanced at his chrono. "Of course. Go on."

"We agreed that prisoners will be moved to the new penitentiary facility in the Consortium. We called Mom – I mean Queen Mother – and she agreed with us. So I and Jaina will take the _Princess of Carlania_ and take them there, while you and Wandaq will simply go on with your duty."

Ben frowned. "_Princess of Carlania_?"

Allana smiled. "It's the ship we arrived in, the shuttle."

"Oh. Hapan, right?"

She nodded. "Birthday gift from Mom."

"I knew it can't be a Jedi transport."

"Too sophisticated?"

"Too serviceable."

They both grinned. In last few years, the Jedi order's administration came to the point where every ship in the property of the Jedi order was almost in the working state of _Millenium Falcon_.

"It sounds too easy," Ben said after a while. "What if they will come to get their friends back?"

Allana's face betrayed her understanding. "I and Jaina will kick their dark-side asses?"

Ben looked stunned. "What?"

"I said…" then she realized and her hands flashed up to her mouth. "Oh, sorry, Ben."

He grinned. "Who taught you to speak like that?"

Allana shrugged. "You."

Ben smoothed his hair again. He didn't know when he had obtained this custom. "Just don't say it in front of Jaina, okay?"

"You can trust me. It's safe with me."

Ben sighed. "I can fly you an escort in my StealthX," he proposed.

"I doubt Aunt Jaina will agree. "

"I do, too, but you can convince her to approve it."

"What about this mission? What if Sith will strike again?"

Ben frowned and crossed his arms. "They have a whole ship of Mandalorians. And Wandaq. Wandaq's a good Jedi. He's a bit dark, but he hates Sith. If there's someone he can deal with, it's them."

"Ben, could you forgive yourself if the whole party here would be destroyed by a Sith flotilla just because you decided to help me and Aunt Jaina?"

Ben looked away from the inquisitive look of her gray eyes. "You are what have remained of my family."

"And your family is Solo-Skywalkers. Do you think that two Jedi women can't cope with few Sith?"

"You surely can, but…"

Allana tweeted.

A slightly embarrassing silence rose in the storage room.

Then Ben tweeted.

They both, almost simultaneously, reached down to their belts.

Ben was first to have his comlink on. "Skywalker."

A warbling voice of _Rival_'s Sullustan communication officer sounded form the device. "Jedi Skywalker, Senator Norso requests your presence in the command salon. Immediately."

He raised his eyes and caught Allana's look. They both nodded and dashed out of the room, heading portside.

"Do you know what's going on?" he asked the Sullustan.

"Yes, sir," he said, clearly satisfied that he is well-informed. "It was me who intercepted the message."

"A message?"

"Yes, sir. We received a message. From some unidentified ship which had just arrived to the system."

"Do you know what's in the message?"

"No, sir. The first part of it demanded that I should put it through to the ship's commanding officer."

Ben frowned. "I'm the ship's commanding officer."

"We sent the message to your quarters, but you weren't present. So we sent it to Jedi Wandaq, who wanted to send it to Senator Norso, who called us to catch up with you – anywhere you are – and send you to the command salon."

Ben rubbed his forehead with one hand as he and Allana rounded another corner of the gold-and-cream colored corridor.

"Okay, okay, Ensign. Thank you. You can tell senator I'm on my way."

"Yes, sir."

He put the comlink back to his belt.

Allana looked at him. "What's going on?"

"We received some mysterious message," he said, shrugging. "Let's hope that others know more."

Allana nodded, reflexively reaching to her belt to the white-and-gold lightsaber there. "And let's hope that it's not another Sith ambush."


	15. 15: Friend for effect

**For first, I want to thank you for those nice reviews. I appreciate that.**

_**I think negotiation is sometimes not about trying to reach your goals, or to compromise. Sometimes it's simply about not letting the other reach his goal.**_

_**- Cricket the Dark Lord**_

…_**.**_

The pick of the _Phantom Rival_'s crew, all four Jedi, Norso, Bawan and both Mando commanders, was staring at the hologram in front of it.

It was a hologram of a man. It was about meter high, shining blue and it stood above a huge rectangular holotransmittor in the darkened command salon.

The man was willowy, approximately about Jaina's age, with shoulder-length sleek hair and narrow eyes. He was dressed in some heavy, elaborate robes with a frilly belt with a lightsaber decorated with gemstones resembling pearls in their smoothness.

"I am Lord Dalecus of the Circle of Lords," the man said, lisping a bit, "and my message is for the commanding officer of the Galactic Alliance ship… _Phantom Rival_ only."

"Lord as in Sith lord, I suppose," Allana said below her breath.

No one answered.

"I am an emissary sent by the Circle of Kesh to negotiate with estimable members of the Galactic Alliance…"

Ben grinned when he noticed how much pain it took him to say this.

"…about the Keshiri captives you took. Please, respond immediately to this message. Our transmission codes are attached to the message. Thank you for listening to this message. Dalecus out."

The hologram flickered out and was replaced by a chart with transmission codes.

Norso snorted.

"They want us to release them?" Wandaq asked loudly.

"I am afraid they have the right for it," Norso answered, frowning. "We are not officially in a war with Kesh or Sith so we can't state that they are war prisoners."

"It doesn't mean a war when they attacked us?" Wandaq asked.

Norso shook his head. "Not officially. Besides, if they can claim them to be operating solo, without blessing of their government… no offence, Master Solo."

Jaina was scowling at the chart as if she could squeeze some information out of it. "None taken, Senator." She glanced at him. "But if they attacked us, as citizens of the GA, isn't the GA courthouse authorized to deliver a judgment on them?"

"They are still citizens of the Kesh, Master Solo," Bawan interposed, even grimmer than ever. "That means that if we fail to come to agreement with Keshiri, they will have to be tried for it by Keshiri court."

"So we have to negotiate with them so we can get them to court?"

"Yes. Or we can insist on the presence of some of our GA representatives during the court on Kesh."

Ben smiled. "That can play into our hands," he said.

"It surely can," Norso nodded, frowning. "If they will agree."

"We can't just let them go!" Wandaq shouted, slamming his fist into the transmittor's desk.

"We have to, Jedi Wandaq," Bawan retorted. "And I ask you to sit this one out."

"What?"

"I ask you to give up on your duties for today. You're dismissed, Jedi Wandaq."

Wandaq's face twisted into a mask of pure hatred. "I don't take orders from you, sir! I'm a Jedi!"

"Jedi Wandaq," Jaina said clearly, not even raising her voice, but everyone heard her with a crystalline pureness. "As a Master of the Jedi Council, I suggest you have a day out. Go have a caf and _cool off_."

Wandaq's expression was defiant, but he nodded and bowed. "Yes, Master Solo. Right away."

He strode from the room, hitting Ben's arm hardly as he walked past him.

Ben knew he expected him to stand up for him. Ben wanted, but he knew something about politicians and bureaucracy. You can't overplay them. They always win.

After a while of bright silence when everyone in the room were aware of themselves so clearly they could feel their muscles working as they were tampering with their hands nervously, Allana let go of her braid and crossed her arms.

"Are we going to call them?" she asked, the urging look of her attentive eyes mentally poking at everyone in the room.

Norso twitched and began to move again like a statue coming to life. "Yes. Of course we are," he said, leaning forward to the transmitter to call the communication center. "We have no other choice."

As Norso asked the CC to call the emissary ship, Ben glanced at Gev and Skirata, who stood aside from the others, watching the conversation without any sign of interest. Both their helmets were off, so he could see their faces as they continued to watch the chart, unmoving, unspeaking and uncaring about the results of the negotiation which was about to begin.

He moved to them with no real purpose, following some unconscious bidding.

"Commander Gev," he said respectfully.

Her eyes shifted to him, but her face didn't. "Can I help you somehow, Skywalker?"

"I want to know what you two think about this."

Gev glanced at the tall Mandalorian. "We think it's none of our concern what you_ auretiise _do with your prisoners," he answered.

"But you do not agree."

Gev shrugged. "You Alliancers were always bound by your own laws and principles."

"We need laws. Otherwise a perfect chaos would break out in the galaxy," Ben objected automatically, but he understood Gev's and Skirata's point.

"I don't try do depreciate laws, Jedi," Gev said coldly. "I know that one needs a code to keep his honor. But your laws should not be made up in a way that prevents you from doing the necessary stuff in the right time."

"I know what you're talking about," Ben said, then something else caught his attention.

A shiny blue hologram had lightened up the dark salon again. It was the same man, this Lord Dalecus, but this time he was accompanied by a willowy woman few inches taller than he, who was dressed in similar luxurious robes.

Dalecus pursed his lips in a childish expression of aversion, but bowed a bit, hands clasped behind his back. "Lord Dalecus of the Circle of Lords." He waved his hand toward the woman. "Master Gardia." She bowed as well.

"Pleased to meet you, Lord Dalecus, Master Gardia," Norso replied and returned their bows. "I am Senator Wan Norso of Onderon. Diplomatic ship _Phantom Rival_ is under my command."

"The _Phantom Rival _is a battle cruiser, if I heard well," Dalecus objected.

"It was. But it was provided to me by the Galactic Alliance Forces as a diplomatic ship. We cannot risk venturing to the borders unprotected."

Dalecus nodded. "I understand caution, Senator Norso."

"But that's not the main point of the discussion now," Norso changed the subject abruptly before he could tell more than was wise. "We are supposed to negotiate about the captives if I am not mistaken."

"In fact, I wanted to arrange a meeting with you. Face to face. I mean real face to real face. No holograms."

Norso raised his brows and his eyes flashed for a split of a second to Jaina. She shrugged.

"Is there some reason for this?" he asked carefully.

"I do not know how you feel about these impersonal holo-meetings, but I myself prefer the old way."

"As if someone's going to rise to this bait," Skirata whispered to Gev.

"Well," Norso said slowly, now having an eye-contact-and-subtle-gestures conversation with Jaina and Bawan. "Well…"

After a while of silence where Jaina's expression switched from quandary to assent and to indignation, she halted the argument with a single sentence she mouthed toward Norso.

_We can handle Sith._

"I think we would be glad to meet you at person, Lord Dalecus," Norso ended the sentence finally.

"Very well," Dalecus nodded with a smug smile. "Now we just have to agree on the place."

"Our ship is fully available," Norso said, copying Dalecus' smile.

Ben grinned when he saw the challenge in Norso's eyes. _My ship or your ship? My playground or your playground?_

"The_ Tuwiik_ is available as well," Dalecus said.

"Then this seems to be a stalemate."

Jaina had calculated the risk of having Sith on the _Rival _as well as the risk of being on a Sith ship, which resulted in her saying, "I have another idea," in the same time Ben was saying "If I may…" Just a short while after they two started speaking, Allana interposed with a polite There is another way…

The pause between their speak and Allana's was there not because it took Allana more time to reach the same opinion as her Jedi colleagues, but because she was the only one that considered if it's proper for her to speak up.

The three of them looked at each other, then Jaina beckoned Allana to join Norso in the holounit's scanning area. She made first two steps toward the table, when Ben shook his head resolutely, mouthing_ later_ at his confused associates.

"I have my own proposal," Ben said when he stepped to Norso's side, smoothing hair on the back of his neck.

Dalecus frowned. "And you are…?"

Norso put on an affable look. "Oh, this is my Jedi advisor and guardian, Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker."

Dalecus stiffened for almost imperceptible while. Ben expected so much. His history with the Lost Tribe was long and unpleasant. Well, longer than he would like it to be.

"It's an honor to… see you at last, Jedi Skywalker. I've expected you to be much more… appalling."

Ben offered him an urbane smile. "You cannot trust rumors, Lord Dalecus. I would expect a Sith lord to know that."

Dalecus showed his teeth. "I do know that, Jedi Skywalker. I know it very well. But I also know the capability of our warriors."

"You've expected someone who eliminated so much of your troopers to be a bit mightier didn't you?" Ben sighed. "Lots of people do."

"If I may," Norso interposed gently. "We should get back on the business."

Ben shook his head. "Of course. I'm sorry."

"Let's listen to your idea, Jedi," Dalecus said and managed not to say the word Jedi with much spite.

"It's simple. Let's choose some neutral area. I heard Duke Onnye saying that there has been some effort to colonize the adjacent sector. There is a colony on one of its moons. Let's meet there."

Dalecus looked at his female fellow, Master Gardia, and held her look for a moment. Then he looked back at Ben and Norso. "Very well, then," he said slowly. "Let's meet on the moon. But we will need coordinates. And some time for a setup."

"Agreed," Norso nodded. "We will send the coordinates to you immediately. If anything happens, I will let you know."

Dalecus made another stiff bow of head, low enough to make Norso sure it was intended for someone equally ranked, not superior. "That's generous of you. Let's meet in… ten orbital periods?"

"Of Gwallish?"

"Yes."

Norso smiled. "Okay, then. See you later, Lord Dalecus. And ma'am Gardia as well, of course."

Gardia bowed her head, but still haven't spoken up.

"See you later, gentlemen," Dalecus said.

The hologram flashed off.

Norso stretched out his arms and meshed his fingers, moving his head side to side to ease his neck muscles.

"So we have an agreement," Bawan said listlessly.

"Yes, we have," Norso nodded enthusiastically. The encounter with Sith seemed to have a stirring effect on him, like a dose of adrenalin. He seemed to be about to fly off the handle, his energetic motions and intense expression creating an air of mania.

Ben had to smile. He knew what had just happened; Senator Norso was too young not to get bored bickering with some fozy and old bashaws. Now he had a chance to see some real action and that was the best pick-me-up for him.

"Now we have to set a team to meet the Sith." He turned to his Togorian fellow. "I suggest one of us, Diplomat Bawan, would stay here in case something bad happened."

"Or if the Sith just tried to lure us out while they attacked Gwallish again," Jaina said.

Norso nodded vigorously. "Yes. That's true. They may use this situation for some dirty tricks of theirs. We should try to minimize the likelihood of their success."

"We have four Jedi. We can leave two there and send two with the negotiating unit," Ben said.

"Good idea, son," Norso nodded.

"I can stay here with Allana and you two with Wandaq can go with the unit," Jaina proposed.

"I do not think it's wise to let Jedi Wandaq to get into direct contat with the Sith, Master Solo," Bawan snarled. "Having the Snivvian and Sith in one room means no agreement."

Ben caught Jaina's eye. "Wandaq's father died in the Second Civil War and his mom and younger sister died during the Abeloth's subjugation of Coruscant. If someone hates Sith, it's Wandaq."

Jaina gave a hiss. "Okay."

"I can go with Ben instead of Wandaq, aunt Jaina," Allana said hopefully.

Jaina sighed. "I guess I have no choice, then. Take my apprentice with you, Ben. And take care of her. Good care."

Ben gave her a tight, worried smile. "Of course I will, Jaina. I don't want Tenel Ka and the whole Consortium in my back."

Allana rose her arched eyebrows. "I don't think the whole Consotrium would be after you, Ben," she said. "I think that there may even be people who would applaud to you."

"Good," Ben nodded with a grin. "I need applause. That's really the thing I missed there."


	16. 16: Crossroad

_**Sometimes the best solution is the one you like the least.**_

**- Cricket.t.D.L.**

…**.**

"Any news from the Council?" Ben asked, leaning back in his chair.

Jaina shrugged and kept on pulling her clothes from a small bag that lied on her bed. "Some."

Ben took out her mother's old vibroknife from his belt and started playing with it. "Any reports from Tahiri?"

Jaina's face fell for a moment. "No. Still no messages."

Tahiri Veila, Jaina's old friend and a Jedi Knight, was one of the Quest Knights Luke Skywalker had dispatched with an important mission – find the Mortis Monolith and the Dagger of Mortis, presumably the only thing really capable of destroying Abeloth. For whole years, the Quest Knights wandered the galaxy. By now, most of them were either lost, dead, or still searching without any luck.

Tahiri was one of the lost ones. Few months ago, she had reported that she's in the frontier, that she had struck the track. Then she disappeared. No one had heard about her since that.

"I think that maybe Valin was right when he said I should go searching for the Monolith," Ben said thoughtfully, "I don't want to crack wise, but from the Knights I am the one with one of the biggest experiences with this pattern of the Force."

Jaina folded a tan tunic over her arm. "Pattern of the Force?"

"You know what I mean," he said, eyes pinned on his hands. "There was something ancient, something arcane in the way Abeloth felt. In the way the Pool of Knowledge felt. There has to be something similar in the sensation of the Monolith."

She nodded. "And you think you can identify that sensation."

"Exactly."

Jaina laid the tunic down on a pile of clothes. "But if that skirmish with the Lost Tribe will surge to a war…"

"You will need someone who knows the Lost Tribe. That means me. I know." He sighed. "And that makes it difficult. What's the main issue – possible war with Sith or possible return of Abeloth?"

Jaina sat down on the edge of her bed. "The Sith are there now," she said after a while. "Abeloth is not."

Ben frowned. "How do we know that? Maybe she controls them again."

"Even they can't be stupid enough to let her get close to them."

"She's powerful. Maybe they don't know about it."

"Your father was sure that every loss of a body weakens her. Do you mean that surviving without a body leaves her strong?"

Ben laid his face into his hands. "I don't mean anything," he muttered.

"So what do you think?"

He sighed again. "I think she found another body. Somewhere. Somewhere out of our reach. To make sure we won't intervene until she recovers." He rose his head, but still haven't looked at Jaina. "She's recovering fast. Seven years is a pretty long time."

"So – Abeloth is more dangerous but less likely and Sith War is more likely, but less dangerous."

"Compared with Abeloth, yes."

Jaina gave him a sharp nod. "Then you have to go searching for the Monolith."

Ben finally looked at her. "Do I?"

"Sith are less dangerous, so we can handle them without you. Abeloth is more dangerous, and sending you away might prevent things from becoming really bad for us. Where do you see any catch?"

"What if she comes when I'm gone?"

Jaina smiled without any hint of humor. "We'll keep her off until you'll return. Jedi are good at delaying. It's as simple as that."

"I guess this is the case when it's easy to say, hard to do."

"Yes."

"So… you send me on a mission to find the Monolith?"

"Yes. As a Jedi Council member."

"I'll move off right after the negotiations."

"Okay. That long, I think Abeloth can wait."

"All right." Ben stood up and returned the knife to his belt. "I'll go."

Jaina stood up as well. "Wait."

"What?"

She stepped to him. "Why do you think you need to solve Abeloth now? Why not seven years ago?"

He looked away. "I don't know," he said truly. "Maybe I felt something. Maybe it's bidding of the Force…" he bit his lip. "Maybe Vestara stirred up something old. I don't know."

"Why haven't you told us that she's there?"

He turned away from her, opening the door to the corridor. "Because it doesn't matter. She's as much Sith as the other captives. And I what I feel toward her is the same I feel toward any of them."

"Ben, I know how hard it is to get over old flames."

He walked into the corridor and gave her a quick glance over his shoulder. "Well, I do as well."


	17. 17: Smitten

_**I hate you; I really hate you… so much I think it must be true love.**_

_**- Text of True Love by Pink (matches this chapter. you can listen to it while reading.)**_

…_**.**_

_If I moved my _nykaar_ to Orb Seven, the other player would be able take it. But if I moved the _gyzaa_ to Castle Three, in another draw I would be able to take his _riikata_._

Vestara hung in her hold, eyes closed, imagining a _dazir_ game, Keshiri board game similar to dejarik.

This was the way she tried to keep her wits fresh and working.

In the end, it came out that Gev wasn't a good toy, because she saw though most of Vestara's attempts to lie, as well as her attempts to manipulate her.

She quickly came to dislike those Mandalorians.

By the way, Ben hasn't come to visit her. Not once since he left her the first day in her prison.

A soft swooshing sound betrayed the arriver.

She recognized him in the same second he disclosed his presence in the Force.

She tried to fight back the smile, but failed.

Ben.

He moved to the central table, leaning against it right opposite her.

"Are you awake?"

His voice was a mere whisper.

She slowly opened her eyes. No one had adjusted the lights in her cell, so it remained suffused by soft gold light.

Ben's red hair looked smooth in it and his icy blue eyes got a tender tone in them. He was still handsome.

"Yes," she replied equally quietly, speaking fondly.

"According to Item 478/1-12 of the War Code," he said quietly and softly, speaking to her like a gentle lover, "It's my duty to inform you that it will be negotiated about your release to Keshiri authorities."

She kept the smile on her face. He was irritating, but Vestara needed such stimulation. Besides, this was funny. A bit. And his voice, mostly his tone, evoked a tingle in her. "Oh, will it?" she purred. "How so?"

He leaned to her. "Legally, Galactic Alliance has no right to detain you," he answered. "If Kesh will be willing to pass you to us, you will be charged in the GA, and by GA laws. If they will not, we will have to pass you down."

She leaned to him as well, as much as her shackles let her. "And what would _you_ like?"

"I would like the Keshiri to leave you to us," he admitted.

"So you can visit me?" she asked.

"So you will be really sentenced. To a life term. Or to death."

Her eyes narrowed and she leant her head on one side. "That's very spiteful. Is that the Jedi way?"

His eyes narrowed as well. "It's the practical way," he replied, not exactly snapping, but in contrast with the previous gentle speak, it was like a yell. "You are trouble, Vestara. I don't like trouble."

"Why don't you kill me right now, then?"

He looked at her, from head to toes. Then his look returned to her eyes. "It's illegal."

"But it would feel good, won't it?"

"No, it won't," he responded calmly. "What is this? An attempt to turn me?"

"Maybe," she smiled.

He shook his head lightly. "You're doing this again," he said, reaching out with one hand… then drawing it back. "I should go."

He turned and went toward the door, leaving Vestara to ask herself what the kriffing hell he wanted to do that he held himself back.

"Ben," she said, keeping her voice low.

This time, he turned.

Something changed.

But what?

"Yes?"

"Why? Why did you talked to me like that? Why did you do that?"

He gave her a little smile. "To prove something to myself," he replied.

"To prove something?"

"Yes. I needed to know if I'm still in love with you. And if I am not, what do I feel toward you."

That was something she badly wanted to know as well. But the speed of her heartbeat left no doubts. "And what is it? What do you feel?"

His smile broadened.

And he didn't answer.

He simply opened the door and left.

She closed her eyes, calming herself down, slowing her heartbeat, pushing the blush away from her cheeks.

_You stupid kriffing Jedi._

_I think I love you._


	18. 18: Coup de theatre

Thanks for your reviews again. :) ILY. Sorry it took me this much time to update. Too much school.

What are shock actions? Shit, if you ask me.

-Jori

The Haven Station, a massive complex established above the main centre of the colony found by Gwallishans on the planet of Hespa.

Haven was dark-blue metal rectangle resembling a huge board. It was situated above a system of mines called the Hespa Grid, most important source of living for Gwallishans and one of the reasons Galactic Alliance wanted Gwallish to join. Hespa was literally thick with rare ores, even including cortosis, for mining of which, as it happens, Gwallish needed GA, because mining of cortosis was very expensive and without financial support of the Omniempire, they were forced to close a fair half of the cortosis mines.

They needed each other. But they still couldn't find a way to make everyone happy.

Without the GA, Gwallishan intergalactic economy will fall in few months. Joining would save them from a terrible crisis.

_I call that happy._

Ben sighed and turned away from the viewport on his left, which offered him a simple, not breath-taking view on an endless plain stained there and there with little craters, clumps of grass and low bushes spilled with tiny yellow fruit.

"I don't think this is a debate about our laws," Master Gardia said and tossed her platinum-colored braid on her back. "You have no right to indoctrinate us about our judicial system. This system worked for years and we are not going to change it just because of you."

Senator Norso, who, as some of the officers told Ben during a match of sabacc last night, lost a coin-flip with Bawan and had to come to see to the negotiations, snickered at the woman. "I don't say you should change the system," he said smoothly. "Just that it makes our situation harder."

Ben looked over at Allana, who stood, completely straight, at Norso's other side. She was, as was quite rare for her, clothed in Jedi robes. Her set was blue-green and silver. It was her privilege thanks to her status. When Hapan Chume'da said she has a right to differ from other Jedi by wearing robes of another color when she is a Hapan as much as Master Horn has it because of being a Corellian Jedi, no one dared to say no.

"I don't see anything hard on this situation," Lord Dalecus said and placed his hands to the edges on the table they sat at. It was a very diplomatically designed table. It was round and the star that edged the ornamental symbol of the Gwallishan duchy had as many points as were the seats at the table, so no one was favoured. "I think it's just you who sees a problem there. You will or will not give over the arrestees to us."

"You have to understand," Norso insisted, "Ten officers and one Mandalorian died during their ambush on the Phantom Rival, and countless more Gwallishans were killed when Lady Khai's flotilla engaged the Gwallishan Navy."

"Wait," Gardia's diminutive Keshiri apprentice said.

Gardia turned to him and snapped something in keshiri. The apprentice looked touched, but he replied something that made Gardia rise her brows. Then she nodded and said something that raised a smug smile on Keshiri's lantern-jawed face, a smile that disappeared the same second it appeared.

"My apprentice is right, Lord Dalecus," Gardia said to the lord. "She had to take control of the… lost flotilla. The one positioned on Node One."

Dalecus offered the woman a long look. "The flotilla on Node One," he repeated. "I cannot believe this," he added and turned back toward Norso, passing his hand on the smooth blue surface of the table. "She wasn't even supposed to be in control of one ship if there were not appropriate orders for dispatching. We thought she broke off the flotilla on her own with a pack of loyalists," he said to them, "But if a whole flotilla followed her…"

Ben studied Dalecus' symmetrical face, his wide jaw and low forehead, looking for a merest sign of lie.

He found none, but all this stuff around smelled of a lie. They had to lie. Nor Vestara, nor her apprentice said anything indicating that they seceded from the Lost Tribe, and those were the only two prisoners that talked to them.

"See, this is surely a very important thing to find out," Norso said, placing his opened hands on the table palms-up in an accommodating gesture, "But, as you said, we are here to talk about the arrestees."

Dalecus nodded and swept a hand over a little bald stripe that crossed his hair above left ear. "Yes. What solution do you recommend, then?"

Norso, for the first time during the whole negotiation, glanced over his shoulder at Ben.

He, unobtrusively, dipped his head.

_Go on._

_As we arranged it._

Norso turned back at Dalecus and Gardia.

"We thought that presence of some of our delegates during the meeting may satisfy our superiors," he suggested lightly.

Dalecus rubbed his throat. He threw a look sideways at Gardia.

She looked attentively at Norso with her bright pea-green eyes, then she looked at Ben and Allana.

When her look settled at Ben, who was watching her as attentively as she was watching him, her eyes narrowed and she said something in keshiri.

"Can we take a while to consult this?" he asked.

"Of co-"

The subtle prickle Ben felt in his spine from the very beginning of the meeting intensified into a sensation of immediate danger. He saw Allana's eyes widen in his peripheral view.

The danger was coming from the left, from the side of the viewport. Ben turned in time to see a ship, which, briefly speaking, looked like a charcoal grey brick with wings, accelerating toward them.

"Watch out!"

It was Allana who shouted this. Ben, in the meantime, used the Force to toss Norso and his chair to the farthest corner of the room.

The flying brick opened fire.

Five lightsabers hissed to life.

The squad of six Mandalorians that accompanied Norso plunged to the walls, where they were in partial cover.

Transpariplast of the viewport shattered under the barrage.

Ben's ice-blue blade flashed up and batted a bolt of crimson life away from his face.

"What's going on?!" Allana shouted, launching on the floor to avoid becoming a colander.

Ben sent his lightsaber spinning in front of his face, stepping to Allana and in front of her, covering her while she was rising.

"I don't know," he admitted, "but it seems dangerous."

Allana deflected a bolt hurled at her leg. "You don't say."

A gate located between brick's cannons opened, revealing a fair platoon of troopers.

Ben gulped loudly.

The Sith trio started shouting in keshiri. Their own entourage, squad of helmeted troops of immoderate height, formed a defensive line behind them. Their raisin-colored armor swallowed one bolt after another without seeming too much damaged.

Ben winked and moved his wrist just in time to prevent the bolt from sieving his arm. "Allana," he growled, "take Norso and go."

Allana scowled, but hadn't moved. Her golden-bladed lightsaber suffused her face in bright gold glow. "Ben…"

Ben watched as the first line of troops onboard the brick activated their jetpacks and started the quick flight between the brick and the conference room.

Mandalorians and Sith troopers opened fire and the first line fell.

But there was the second line right behind it and this one they couldn't stop whole, not while the brick's cannons moved to concentrate their fire on them.

Ben crouched a bit, preparing to spring at the enemies. "Go."

Allana lowered her lightsaber and gave him quick nod. "Good luck. May the Force be with you."

Ben smiled a bit as the first trooper's boots touched the floor. "There is no such thing as luck," he said. "May the Force be with you."

Allana started a run toward the trio of troopers that began to escort shocked and slightly injured Norso away.

Ben surveyed the nearest trooper.

His helmet, as well as the rest of his uniform, looked like a curved V when saw from the front. Its visor was round and tinted to black, so he couldn't see the face beneath it. His armor was hulking and awkward.

Ben guessed that dexterity was just secondary goal for the makers of this suit. The first was obviously firepower.

Both forearms were encased in rocket launchers, the jetpack on trooper's back was completed by two missiles and the gun he held in his large hands could be mistaken for a piece of doorframe.

So he was heavily armed. Good. Ben was fast.

He obviously caught trooper's attention. The muzzle of the door-frame gun turned at his head.

Ben raised his lightsaber to dodge it away.

But he wasn't prepared for the ball of size of a fist that flew out of it.

He spun away.

The trooper, in meantime, drew out a capsule from a pocket on his chest and punched it into the gun.

Ben sprang forward.

The trooper aimed and fired, Ben spun away again, not slowing down.

He grasped the projectile in the Force and hurled it into another trooper, who staggered under the impact and fell out of the viewport, pulling one of the third like troopers with him.

The third line landed.

Ben thrust his lightsaber into the armor of the nearest trooper. There was enough strength in the strike to create a sag in his breastplate. He also took the trooper's breath away.

Before he could recover, Ben pivoted and kicked him straight into the gap beneath the breastplate. The Force-enhanced kick sent him stumbling backwards.

Ben used another Force-push to throw him out of the viewport.

He ducked under another projectile coming at his chest and hit it from below with his lightsaber, launching it into a pack of enemy troops.

He made a backward roll and the projectile one of the troops sent at him bit into the floor.

He looked around and found out that just few of the troops possess those huge guns. Some of them – mostly from the fourth and fifth line – were equipped with simple blaster rifles. Big-guns shot mostly at him and the Sith trio, while the rifle-equips shot at the troops.

He rose to his feet.

His comlink deeted.

He activated it and spun away from a spray of bolts shot at him by one of the just arriving troops of the sixth line.

"Skywalker."

"The _Fate_ is prepared for take-off."

"Good." Ben noticed the incoming projectile in the last moment, and had to dive into a forward roll. "Wait for us. We're on our way."

"Roger."

_Fate_'s temporary pilot – the_ Fate_ was Ben's personal ship – clicked off.

Ben rose his voice to shout over the noise of the firefight. "Back down!"

Ben's earpiece tuned for a squad channel rustled.

"What? Back down?" It was Aik Skirata, squad's captain. "We almost got them."

"We're backing down, captain," Ben retorted impatiently, deflecting blaster bolts and ducking and dodging more projectiles.

Skirata paused.

Ben almost reached the door. "We. Are. Backing. Down. Now."

"He's right, boss," a female voice sounded. "We're outnumbered."

This time the pause was just fractional. "Dammit."

Ben ran through the door, followed almost immediately by a diminutive Mandalorian in dark grey and black armor. The rightly red pad on her shoulder was all scorched and warped.

He slowed down for a while to let her catch up with him. In the same time she did, a thundering explosion sounded from the room and a blue-armored figure jumped through the doorway.

A rough chuckle sounded from the squad channel.

"A Mandalorian farewell."

The female Mandalorian chuckled as well.

Aik nodded at Ben. "Are we going?"

Ben, who inadvertently stopped running, now put up the pace again. "Sure."


	19. 19: Once up, once down, once clueless

"Not knowing sucks."

- From Men-at-arms aka Men-in-trouble by Jori

Aik spat out on the med bay's floor.

"Is kriff an indelicacy?" he asked.

Ben blankly nodded. "Yes."

Mandalorian man snarled. "Kriff."

Allana looked at him with her eyebrows lifted.

"Sorry, kid," Aik said insincerely.

Allana shrugged and turned back at Senator Norso, who had a hole in his left arm as big as a coin. She was applying some synthflesh and bacta patches to it.

Norso was biting his lips, trying to fight back the pain.

Ben looked at him. "I can find some anesthetics," he offered.

"No, thanks," Norso said weakly.

Allana smoothed out the last patch. "That's all I can do for you right now," she said and straightened herself.

Norso carefully touched the injured place. "Thank you, child."

Allana smiled a bit. "Don't mention it."

"Do you want my cabin to take a nap?" Ben asked.

"No, thanks," Norso said and stood up, hissing with pain.

Allana frowned and removed the cloth band that held her tunic, binding it as a sling for Norso's hand.

Her blue-green under-tunic drew apart, revealing the white jumpsuit beneath it.

Ben smiled. "Always prepared?"

She smiled as well. "For a fight? Of course. Jedi robes are heavy."

Norso breathed out deeply. "I guess we can discuss this now – what the kriff – sorry, kid – what, by the stars, happened?"

Ben threw a long look at him. "In short?"

"Yes."

"We don't know."

Norso sat back on the medbay's desk. "Oh."

Ben rubbed his face. "We know that we were attacked. We know that there was only one ship. We know that they didn't seem to want to pursue us."

Norso lay down. "So they were there because of the Sith?"

"We don't know."

"Do you think it was the Omniempire?" Aik asked.

Ben thought about it for a moment. "It's possible. But… why? They won't attack us just for the heck of it."

Allana shrugged. "Maybe they thought that the Sith were more allies that wanted to protect Gwallish. They wanted to scare them out."

"That's a good idea," Ben admitted. He dabbed his head twice on the wall behind him. "But also… I don't know. I have a bad feeling about it."

Allana took a seat on the desk next to Norso's legs. "What that means?"

"That I feel there's something more to that than we think that is."

"Something more to it?"

"Yes. It's… huger than we think. Or that's what my intuition tells me. What the Force tells me."

Allana's grey eyes confronted his blue. "Does that mean that you're staying?"

He sighed. He wasn't surprised Allana knew it. He couldn't expect Jaina not to tell her. "No. I still have to go. It's just… a warning. That things here may not be as simple as we thought."

"So no simple border conflict?" Aik asked.

"No simple border conflict." Ben shrugged. "I don't know where the issue is. But if I could just suggest something… I think you should send someone undercover down to Gwallish. I think it's going on there."

Allana nodded. "I'll propose it to Jaina."

Ben pulled off from the wall. "I'll go check on with the pilot."

His almost-niece gave him a short wave. "See you."

He left the room and passed the complicated system of narrow corridors and bigger circular areas so typical of Corellian ships.

He went on into the cockpit, not much different from the cockpit of the famous Millennium Falcon.

The pilot, a lithe man in white-and-gold armor was just joking with his co-pilot, the female Mandalorian that fled the Haven with Ben, who turned out to be the girl he met – and offended – in the hangar.

"- that they can't even see their own _kad'e_!" he was just saying.

The girl chuckled. "That's stupid. How could they possibly-"

"Am I interrupting?" Ben asked.

She turned to him. "No," she said, suddenly serious. "No, sir."

"Great." Ben sat into the navigator's chair. "Are we going to enter the hyperspace?"

"In a while, sir," the joker said.

"Great."

He used the navigator's console to access _Fate_'s stern visual sensors. He found the one that now had clear view on Hespa and put its feed on the console display.

Here it was: grey, yellow and green moon with a build-up area that seemed like a rash on the face of the planet.

Here it was: a moon suffused with darkness.

It was like a slight feeling of doom, of destruction, emanating from the planet below them.

What was down there?


	20. 20: Shortcut

I hate when chapters are short

- Moya

A Human male, a handsome, well-built man, beckoned the troop he talked to to go.

The trooper, dressed in awkward black suit, obeyed immediately.

His superior stood still for a while, then, shakily, drew out his comlink and activated it.

"Yes?" a low voice sounded from it.

"Tell her…" the man began, but he faltered, so he had to try it once more. "Tell her that… he's nowhere there."

There was just breathing heard from the comlink. "Yes," the man on the other side said then. "I will."


	21. 21: Phobia

Overcoming your fears is harder than anything in your life.

Jaina stepped into the cabin. She was dressed in simple brown civilian clothes, not in Jedi robes.

"I've just informed the Council."

Ben looked up from his bag. "About what?"

"Everything – your mission, the attack, that I will be staying here with Allana, about the pact with Sith…"

"And?"

"They approve of everything."

Ben gave her a nod and put a mysteriously looking package into the side-pocket of a backpack. "So I am free to go?"

Jaina sat down on his bed. "Yes. If you want to."

"I still do," he replied and went to the closet next to the bed.

He opened the highest drawer and pulled out a pair of blasters.

Jaina watched him as he gently put them on the top of the pile of his clothes.

"You're packing a whole armory," she said. "Why?"

"If I'll run into Abeloth, I must be prepared," he answered blankly. "When you fight such a malicious smoo-" he paused and shook his head. "I mean creature, a pocket full of sonic grenades improve odds of survival."

"You expect that you'll meet her?"

"I'm a Jedi. We're trained to expect everything. And make-"

"Make prep for it," Jaina finished. "I know. I'm of the same school, you know? Maybe your school is a bit newer, but the old school still work."

Ben grinned. "I heard about the old school. Wasn't the basic combat rule: Just run in there and beat hip and thigh?"

"That's Mom and Dad's school. Rebellion school. My school, the Yuuzhan Vong school, says that if one is to die, he should take as much enemies as he can with him."

"I'll take it to heart."

Jaina stood up and hugged him. "Mostly take care of yourself, okay? And return with the damned dagger."

"Fine," he smiled. "And you take care of Allana. She's Solo. She'll be in trouble the very second you leave her alone."

"Yeah. I think she's probably already blew something up by now." She patted him on the back. "I'll go. May the Force be with you."

"And with you. All."

Jaina left.

Ben sat down on the floor and pulled his knees up to his chin.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was afraid. He couldn't help but being afraid.

_Abeloth._

She had almost killed him and his father more times than he wanted to count.

And he was going to run straight into her arms.

He shuddered.

He almost felt it again; the tentacle wrapped around his wrist, tightening its grip… the crushing, agonizing press…

The oily and dark presence, stifling and nauseous…

He remembered the fear of the millions of people on Coruscant, and remembered maybe too well how disgusted he was when he realized that it makes her thrilled, that she is takes pleasure in it.

He had faced a lot in his life, and he always found the courage he needed for facing things straight, somewhere deep in him.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his face.

Come on. Brace up.

He ruffled his hair, buttoned up his jacket, spread his hands, fisted them, hitched up his boots.

He did it until he wasn't calm, then he stood up and buckled his bag.

He had one more matter to finish.


End file.
